#wayne is the first person to actually see the baby bump

[sabbathbloodysabbeth]

Trans Steve

So like I have had this ungodly obsession with a trans Steve who is very secret and undercover. Like not even Robin knows hes trans. I sort of headcannon that his parents arent supportive but like, Mr.Harrington really wanted a son to take over his buisness so if this means the only way possible he will. Of course not everything is available through the 80′s but what Steve is able to get done is done. (Top Surgery and Testosterone) 

But because there isn’t the greatest education for trans people he doesn’t think he can get pregnant. So he ends up having a slip up under some circumstances and hes now currently very sick from morning sickness. But thing is he still wants to stay hidden but he doesn’t want to hurt the baby. So he lies and says that he has the flu to the party and they all believe him.

He is convinced that he can stay well hidden, and he does. He starts to wear way more baggier clothes then what he normally does and he is super dysphoric over the entire pregnancy but he doesn’t want anyone knowing hes pregnant. There is obvious signs like the cravings.

He’ll constantly be sitting next to Argyle when he hangs out with him eating the strangest combinations there is. Argyle simply just accepts it and goes along with the fries dipped in ranch. Of course Robin gets a little suspicious because of course her friend is hiding something.That and he has been wearing way more baggier clothes then normal which isn’t a steve thing to do. So she is worried hes getting self concious of his scars. So what does she do? She sticks Eddie on him because coincedently he has the same ones. 

Steve can’t help himself but laugh when the other tries to give the other a pep talk which just turns into Steve giving Eddie the pep talk. (Literally the boy will be floating for years after this.) But each time someone comes close to guessing Steve confuses them. Literally no one thinks hes pregnant because hes a dude.

Though when he actually starts to pop out more he is having a increasing amount of difficulty hiding. He feels fat and his hands and feet are swollen and he cant stand it. He also gets very dysphoric and hates his clothing. So a conversation happens one day and thats how he finds himself buried in Argyles clothes. They feel like a actual guys clothes and he loves it. Of course Eddie hops in and lets steve wear a bunch of his baggier metallica sweaters. To be honest he just enjoys seeing  the other in his clothes. 

Though now Steve is having a difficult time standing up on his own, so now he tries not to sit. Which obviously fails. He sits and hes very embarrassed when it first happens. He ends up stuck on the munson couch while Eddie was in his room doing god knows what. He really has to pee because of the baby and the only one around to help him is Wayne. Wayne who isn’t dumb. Hes caught onto how strange the harrington boy was acting and cant help but be suspicous. 

Though it all finally clicks in the older mans head when Steves face goes a little pink and hes cradiling his stomach like its a baby. The sweater tightens a little around his middle and right there is a very obvious baby bump. Wayne is shocked and confused and thinks it isnt but he recognizes the signs of pregnancy. Eddies mother had very similar cravings Steve had, she couldn’t stand up on her own. Though he wasn’t sure his suspicions are proven when the boy flinches holding his stomach as if he was kicked. 

Wayne moves over and helps the other up with a knowing look and neither of them say anything. Though Wayne does when they are by themselves because he doesn’t want the boy to go in labor when he was by himself. So now Eddie is very confused as to why his Uncle was jumping up and around as Steves slave when he comes over. 

(I think I might do everyone elses reactions in a part 2 lol, I have been really wanting to write this but this is literally all the energy I can muster up to do) 

[frankieunscripted]

My reasons to hate Drake

First things first, I'm the reales- wait, wrong theme. First of all, I would like to say this is NOT an unbiased recap, this is literally just me listing things I've hated about Drake for years. You might as well join in on the hate train. Go watch some YouTube video essays on this if you wanna know more!!! You'll find plentyyyy

Certified Pedophile ("allegedly"): Texting teen girls until they're of age and then go and date them. ew.

Cosplay Gangsta: disrespecting the culture as a whole, but especially what hiphop is about. Flexing money, cars, girls, drugs, clothes bc he never understood hiphop was never about flexing, but about being heard bc you're oppressed, about revolution. Now we got his die-hard fans running around acting like this is true rap. no. "You don't know nun bout dat!"

Culture Vulture: jumping from trend to trend in order to make it "his own", faking accents that he has no business playing with and dropping them as soon as he's done with this specific type of genre bc it's not trendy anymore. Adapting whole "personas" around this, instead of just merely collabing with other artists. Jamaican and African accents are just 2 examples here.

Blackness: Drake never really got out of his acting career. Back on DeGrassi he was acting as a high school jock. Now he's acting like a tough black guy who's from the streets and knows what it's like to be down bad, when this was never his life. Lil Wayne warned him to never change and act tough just bc he would sign to Weezy's label where the rappers were predominantly "gangsta type dudes". And what did Drizzy do? He's acting all tough and "outta dem streets". He's clearly overcompensating for not feeling black enough (I've already reblogged 2 posts about this, pls see these for further context). Drake's mad for not being referred to as a rapper who speaks on being black, when in reality the black experience was never of topic in any of his songs. He also doesn't give back to the community.

Lil Wayne: Drake had relations with fellow rapper Lil Wayne's gf (she actually was of age, ayoooo!) while Wayne was away in prison. Wayne got word of the fact his gf was cheating on him with the young guy he signed under his label and was pissed. Drake, in an effort to smooth out the situation, got Wayne's face tattooed on his arm. Say what you will about portrait tattoos, but this story is just so fucking typical Drake. How the fuck do you think this is gonna help anyone?

Validation: Drake donates money in the music video for God's Plan, only to earn more money with that video/song than he donated in the first place. He felt good about donating and then never did that shit again.

Numbers: As a great man once said: "Crack fiends bought 10 million rocks, that don't mean it's good. It don't mean nothing." (As you can imagine, that man was 2Pac). And with that I say that proving your worth in the industry by numbers don't mean a lot. It means you and your team figured out the market and started producing stupid, vapid, but terribly long albums to maximize streaming numbers, automatically bumping up your place in the industry. This is about quantity, not quality - good rap/ hiphop was never about that. Drake actively validates his music and status with his fame, money and streams and neither him nor his fans seem to get that says nothing about the artistic value of his music. "Numbers lie too, fuck your pride, too!" (I mean really, Baby Shark has 14 Billion views on YouTube - you think that's REAL artistry, Mister Aubrey?)

Cocky Ass Bitch: I would be okay with a lot of his music if Drake just knew his fucking place. He went pop ages ago, but still people (including himself) refer to him as a rapper - no even, as THE rapper, placing him in the Top 3. Sometimes I feel like y'all do this, just to piss me off personally. Apart from everything else wrong with Drake, there's nothing wrong with liking music like his persé. Not everyone likes conscious/ deep stuff and sometimes, when you with the homies, you just wanna chill and listen to something "mindless" - MIND you, I'm not looking down on "non-conscious" rap, I'm just saying not every artist has to be woke/ deep all the time and some "empty" party anthem about girls, fashion, cars and alcoholism is fun at times. These party anthems deserve their place. And a child actor turned rapper turned POP STAR is valid in my books - just not if it's Drake. Apropos cockiness: The dude compares himself multiple times to Michael Jackson and while that got a few good lines out of him, I believe it's close to fucking blasphemy. Drake and MJ on the same pedastal. I mean sure, questionable stuff happening with kids, both of them wildly successful in their industry (mind you, streaming like today wasn't around back then and many of the numbers cannot be compared), but one of them a real talent and the other one some guy who more or less made it as an industry plant. "I can dance like Michael Jackson? / I'd argue your skills really lack, son!" (okay sorry, I know, that was corny as fuck xD) Dude is flexing with numbers instead of poetic abilities -

About the art itself:

Ghostwriters: "What poetic abilities?", I hear you ask - Yeah, don't think I forgot! Best believe I been cooking this one. There's evidence for Drake having ghostwriters - which on its own is fine, don't believe every star writes every single bar on their own. My problem with this is, that Drake keeps his cocky attitude, even though many of his hits aren't really Aubrey-written and also many ghostwriters never get their credit (this is why they're called "ghostwriters", I know that this is not something specific to Drake, but slapping one more name on the credits ain't that hard, when you're worth a billion bucks already). This is the rap equivalent of flexing your homework when you know DAMN WELL copied it off of your best friend and did nothing for that success. I guess his song Right Hand wasn't about a romantic interested after all, but the dudes who been writing it!

STOLEN SHIT: Why in hell is no one mentioning this on here? Drake is KNOWN for stealing other artists' verse metres (referred to as "flows", y'all tumblr, idk how much you guys do know, okay?), melodies, whole beats, samples or verses in general. In no other studio would you see mentions of a "reference track" concerning songwriting. They take a song as reference and build around it as they construct a beat. There's PLENTY of evidence for this happening, one story really had me baffled, where a young indie-rapper met Drake in the early 2010s, gave him his CD to listen to and a whopping 5 years later the indie-rapper realizes Drake just fucking stole his entire song (a really personal one at that) on his latest album back then. Being indie, of course the guy had little to no means of fighting back with lawyers or anything, man's was working a 9to5 job and had other stuff going on. Before you wanna argue with me though: YES. There is a difference between stealing and paying hommage. One famous example is Drake biting Eminem's Superman flow on Chicago Freestyle: "But I do know one thing though/ Bitches, they come, they go/ Saturday through Sunday, Monday / Monday through Sunday, yo/ Maybe I'll love you one day/ Maybe we'll someday grow". The only good thing Drake ever did was changing Em's "Bitches" to "Women" on his song. Other than that: exact same few bars. This is a hommage. Why? Because Eminem, that's why. You can pay hommage to great, well-known artists with good bars. It takes a common ground of knowledge from artist to audience to make a hommage like this work. That can go well. Kendrick copies the flow of a Kanye West song on HiiiPower and it works just fine because you listen to either of the song and think: "Ah yeah exactly, that one part, okay, I see you." You don't pay hommage to a small, unknown, indie-rapper by copying his whole verse about his Mom, when you would never say stuff like that on your records before. You don't, because it wouldn't work. None of your listeners would understand the innuendo at all, because no one ever heard of the "great guy you'd be paying hommage to". So shut up.

Music: It's just not that good. Like yeah, he had a few bangers, but let's not exaggerate. Artistically Drake does not offer anything. If he ever did, he probably left all of that on the first few albums he still rapped on. His delivery sucks, his singing voice sounds like he's tryna be The Weeknd at times but isn't. The lyrics aren't special. What the fuck?

Euphoria: Even before getting deeper into hiphop, I've always hated the way Drake presents himself. When Kendrick said: "I hate the way that you walk, talk, dress" I felt that. I hate the way he "raps", the way he drags his words, the way he laughs, the way he "sings". Just a whole lotta shit I dislike about the guy.

Sneak Dissing: If you want beef then get in line, don't just kinda allude to it, you weak ass bitch

SENSITIVE ASS BITCH: I love a man who's in tune with his feelings but Drake being the cosplaying gangsta clown he is, acts like he's all tough when in reality, you can't really say shit to him, cause he "can't let this shit slide, ay".

Kendrick's Control Verse drops - a verse calling out multiple rappers saying Kendrick will come for them in friendly competition for the crown of being the best. Drake was mentioned. Everyone thinks it's kinda cool and goes along. Drake is mad. In an interview he basically said he found it fake because the next time he saw Kendrick "it was all love" and that he wanted it "to be real. Let it be real then". Okay crodie, next time you get called out in a fair rap competition, best believe I'll sock you in your fucking throat, I gotchu.

The Weeknd doesn't sign to Drake's label OVO after working with Drake for a while. Drake is mad again and feels betrayed. Why you gotta be like this?

Kendrick says that he doesn't wanna collab with Drake because their music is too different, not because of anything personal. He just doesn't see it happen in the near future because it would not match artistically. Drake gets mad.

Drake stopped beefing with Pusha T back in the day. Probably because he exposed his son. But still, if you want beef, then clean up your plate, bc you eat what you order and dont't just start to "let this shit slide, ay"

("allegedly") being involved in XXXTentacion's passing back in 2018 over beef. This beef started because of the flow of X's popular song Look at Me!, which Drake stole shortly after letting X know his management would contact him about a possible collab. As you can imagine, X was never contacted by Drake's people. The kid was 20 years old, man. He said some outrageous shit at times, but no one deserves to go out like he did.

Also, the famous DMX ("Y'all gon make me lose my mind!") once said in an interview that he'd like to punch Drake in the face and I support that. Kendrick and his homies laughed at the clip - as did everybody else, cause it's hilarious if a beast and a legend of hiphop hates Drake. Drake was mad at Kendrick laughing about it and not taking it seriously. What did he expect? Should Kendrick have went after DMX and made him apologize for what he said about lil Aubrey? How old are you? 5?

Drake gets mad at a lot of shit - bottom line. I could go on and on, but I've been writing this for hours, it's half past 3 am and I wanna sleep after uni and work, y'all.

DURING THE DISS-ERTATION: this section is about shit Drake did during the beef with Kendrick.

Saying Kendrick's Like That verse was weak af. That's your core response? Someone flames you and people are already throwing ass to the mere sound of it and you think: "Huh, that sucked anyway." Pathetic.

Calling Kendrick short (over and over and over again) as if his height is under his control/ his fault? - as if that takes way from Kendrick's skill, Kendrick's allegations againt Drake! - as if that means ANYTHING AT ALL to people over the age of like... 12?

Going after anybody's family in the first place. I know nothing is really "off-limits" in a rap battle like this, but please have the fucking decency. Don't mention my Momma, my kids, my dog, my fam, my friends who ain't got nothing to do with the fact that I hate you. I will say I am not proud of Kendrick for getting down on that level himself - but I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy Meet The Grahams and the sheer panic it induced. And sometimes I gotta be a little childish and yell "But Aubrey started ittt!"

Hitting on Whitney in The Heart Part 6. Don't go for another man's treasure, you absolute dog. Accusing Whitney of being unfaithful. My friend, this beef is about us (the Culture) hating you and the things you do. Stop trying to shift this into something it is not.

Reacting to diss tracks via instagram stories and memes, like he's that one popular girl in 7th grade who's gotta clap back to something someone said in school on her IG. Shut up.

Calling The Weeknd and his manager gay. Are we not over homophobia yet? Being queer is not an insult. Also falsely "accusing" people of being gay is uncool as fuck - but oh "You don't know nun bout dat!" bc false accusations are basically everything you do - and also possibly outing someone like that is fucking hurtful as shit. I know the people involved are probably not queer at all, but if they were - period.

Using AI in a song at all. Drake, you already proved you suck. Don't force it down our throats. What part of you thought it would make you look good? What part said it would be good to do in a diss track, when the world knows diss tracks are even more a show of capability than other songs. Nah, you go and use AI. Idc about your "mind games": Using AI Snoop Dogg is just weird as fuck cause the Doggy is still well and alive - if you want him to feature on your song, call the legend and ask hi- oh wait, you knew he woulda said "Aww hell nah!" cause everyone hates you? Huh. Snoop probably woke up one day, hit a blunt and asked "When the FUCK did I collab with Drake?". Anyway, using AI 2Pac is straight up disrespectful, when you know damn well the guy would've hated you if he knew who you'd become. Just doing this because it's 2Pac, because you can and not even asking for permission of Pac's people is crazy. Glad the shit was taken down anyways.

The 8 Mile "Airing Out Your Dirty Laundry"-Trick before the big battle does NOT invalidate future claims on you diddling kids. No. Not even if 2Pac says it first. Nah.

His Damage Control Effort in post to make it seem like/make us believe that he's in control, when Kendrick has been bodying him is hilariously embarrassing. Anyone can claim the mole was fake "all along" after it happened.

Making fun of Kendrick for his verse on Taylor Swift's Bad Blood is just stupid. Look at all the features Drake does. Rihanna, BadBunny, DJ Khaled, Future, PartyNextDoor, Lil Wayne, Diddy, Nicki Minaj, Wizkid, ..... the list is so fucking long (I'm just picking at random songs at this point, cause I do not want my browser/spotify history to be associated with Drake's music. I don't wanna go out of my way to say he NEEDS these people to stay relevant but let's face it: His discography and his success would be different if it weren't for them

Acting like he's so great for "finally making Kendrick rap again" - Sir, you don't write your shit on your own, stfu. You don't invest time and effort into your vapid albums. YOU should be thankful for Kendrick destryoing you, giving us the best few lines out of you in a long time.

Not addressing important shit. We been over the allegations, I will not repeat them in this post cause this is already long enough. BUT y'all on the same page as me, aight? Instead of addressing EVERYTHING, he just responds with diss tracks that aren't terrible but really not THAT good, yk? Not going into the shit that we want to se addressed.

Acting like disstracks need replay value. Idk if this is a Drake or a fanbase problem, but people really act like Drake's tracks were better, bc you can listen to them more casually. "Kendrick basically made a whole song about Drake" - THIS IS WHAT A DISS TRACK SHOULD BE! Notice how we don't call every song containing a diss immediately a "diss track"? That's why. Diss tracks were meant to hit your opponent in the stomach with witty bars, double entendres, nice delivery and good production. Diss tracks weren't meant to be club bangers - bonus if they do end up being some though, looking at you, Like That and Not Like Us.

Not reading into stuff properly or just not listening. This is a small one, but ngl I hate the fact they got the Mother I Sober reference wrong (The song is NOT about Kendrick being abused, BUT about Kendrick not being abused and his Mom NOT believing him and passing her sa trauma onto him, even though he didn't experience that). Also Kendrick explicitly says "DOT, the money, power, respect / The last one is better" on Like That and Drakes response (again) is "Huh, I have way more money than you and in the industry, I'm way more powerful than you. Also, you so short tihhihi." BITCH he SAID respect was the most important of the three and you disrespect him, not by calling him out by his wrong doings but by picking on physical features the man cannot change like a 5th grade bully.

Anyways. phew. If you made it this far... wow. I'm impressed. I'll keep updating this. Thanks for coming to my beef talk.

EDIT: Thank y'all for the positive reactions on this post. If you seek more info/ want me to further explain stuff/ have even more dirt on Drake, let me know and we can work something out. -Frankie out

[justmeinadaze]

We're A Family Part 9 (Steddie X You)

A/N: Ok, I did warn you people so don't come at me lol Good feels and bad feels abound. Idk where this came from. Probably from some person stuff Im struggling with. But alas...Enjoy!

Warnings: Smut, ALL the angst, and fluff at the beginning and end to warm your souls, Someone from Eddie's past comes into play so his trauma is mentioned (i.e Child abuse and his mom leaving), Dylan talks a bit about his feelings with Charlie. I think those are the big triggers here.

Word Count: 4127

“I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream I know you, that look in your eyes is so familiar a gleam And I know it's true that visions are seldom all they seem But if I know you, I know what you'll do You'll love me at once, the way you did once upon a dream.”

You grin from your place on the floor as you watch Eddie strum his guitar and sing as Steve holds her hands while she tries to balance on her feet. 

Aurora’s first birthday was coming up and you felt like time was just flying by. Steve had started school, choosing to utilize the night program so he could at least spend time with the kids while they were awake if he was off that day. Eddie had just recently been promoted to manager at the auto shop which he had originally accepted because it paid more but found that he actually enjoyed the work it provided. 

Dylan seemed to be getting along ok and was his usual happy self. While he still loved playing the guitar, he asked you if he could sign up for the Hawkins little league team and had steadily grown to being one of the best players on the team. When you picked him up from practice one day you noticed how his face changed as he hit the ball, like he was letting out all his frustrations with the tiny bat in his hands. 

After what happened your son barely brought up Charlie, following through with calling Steve and Eddie “dad” whenever he addressed them. You sent him texts of updates regarding Dylan but Vivian was the only one to ever reply and usually it was something simple like “Thank you.”

“What’s mama concentrating so hard on, huh?”, Eddie smiled as he looked your way.

“We’re going to have her birthday here, right?”

“Yeah, why not. Wayne said he’d be able to make it and I have the day off.”

“Me to. I made sure to ask for it like 3 months in advance.” Steve flops down on the floor, Aurora wiggling out of his grasp to crawl to the metalhead as she pats on his guitar. “My mom will be swinging by. I assume Robin and Kierra to, of course.”

“I have some friends at work that want to come and bring their kids. Dylan knows a few of them.”

“That will be fun for him. Maybe I can invite the guys. I know they’ve been wanting to see her again.” Eddie leans forward and kisses the baby’s cheek making her giggle. 

You stretch out on the floor in front of you and she promptly crawls towards you bumping her head into yours. “Ow. You have a hard head.” You reach out to mess with her curls the way they do. 

“She’s a headbanger like me. Yeah? Just like dada. Dada?” Eddie chuckles as she falls back on her butt, watching him speak before looking over at you. 

“Dada? Can you say that? Say I’m just like dada.” Both men laugh until a breathy sound escapes her tiny mouth. You grin at her encouragingly as they completely freeze. “There you go. Come on, baby. Dada.”

“Da…da.”

“Oh my god.” Eddie quickly picks her up and places her on his lap as Steve pulls out his phone. “Can you say it again? Who am I? Am I dada?”

“Da…dada.”

He hugs her to his chest as the three of you smile excitedly. “That’s right, princess. I’m your dada.” He turns her around to face Steve. “That’s your dada to.”

You scoot towards the other man and point at his chest as her wide eyes watch you intently. “Dada?” She follows your finger as you point between them repeating the phrase hoping she doesn’t get confused. Her little hand reaches towards Steve’s phone and he pulls it out of her reach as she crawls towards him, headbutting his chin before he places a kiss on her head. 

“Da…da.” She falls onto her back looking up at him as she reaches her hand out again. “Da…da…da.”

##############

“No, she can’t be talking yet.”, Wayne grins as he bounces the baby on his hip. “You need to stay a baby as long as possible. Your dad grew up too fast and I hate it.”

You grin at him as Dylan and the other kids run past you out to the backyard where some of your friends were sitting on the patio talking amongst themselves. 

“Yeah, Steve went from toddler to high schooler in the blink of an eye.”, Mrs. Harrington smiled from her place at the table. 

“Stop it, both of you!”, you giggle. “I still haven’t accepted that this year my son will be 9. I can’t even think about high school.”

The boys were both outside entertaining the older kids while you started cleaning up some of the plates from the table and putting away the left-over food. A knock on the door startled you as you looked in that direction. 

“That’s weird. No one else should be coming…” Drying your hands, you head towards the front door. A beautiful, older woman a bit younger than Wayne stood before you smelling to high heaven like cigarettes. Her long black hair cascaded down her shoulders over a Van Halen t-shirt and some obnoxiously tight blue jeans. There was something familiar about her but you couldn’t exactly pinpoint what it was. “Can I help you?”

“Hi. Uh, does Edward Munson live…here?”, she asked as she looked around behind you. 

“May I ask what you need with him?”

“Or even Wayne… I recognized the truck outside…”

You leaned back, gently calling for the man as he strode over. He froze in place when their eyes met. 

“You can’t be here.”

“Wayne, I need to talk to my son.”

“You should have done that 15 years ago, Lynn, when you left him on my doorstep.” He frustratingly sighed as his eyes met your panicked ones. “I got this, Y/N. Go ahead and get back to your guests.” Wayne stepped further out and closed the door behind him. 

Numbly, you headed back to the kitchen where Steve was talking with his mom who was holding Aurora. He noticed immediately something was off, running to your side. 

“Baby, what’s wrong?”

“We…we need to keep Eddie outside.”, you whisper. 

“Honey, why? What’s wrong with Eddie?”

The man himself comes in holding Dylan upside down in his arms as the small boy laughs. You both meet his eyes and he blinks as he flips his son back around, placing his feet on the ground.

“What’s wrong?”

“Eddie…I…”

“No, Wayne! I have every right to at least talk to him!”

“Lynn! This isn’t your house!”

Eddie’s mom rounded the corner, her eyes locking with his. “Edward.”

“Mom?”

################

You and Steve busied yourselves around the living room, cleaning up from the party. Everyone had gone home and Dylan had taken Aurora up to her room before laying on the floor to keep her company while everything unfolded. 

“Why don’t you go upstairs to, Y/N?”, Steve whispered. 

“Steve Harrington, if I didn’t leave you alone with your father what makes you think I’d even consider leaving him here with her.”

“Because Wayne and I are here to keep him safe.”

All three Munson’s sat at the dining room table silently as Eddie glared into the void with his arms crossed, his leg bouncing under the table. 

“Whose birthday is it?”, she asked, sighing when no one answered. “I’m going to guess from the pink cake I saw that woman put away it’s the baby girls?”

“’That woman’ is my wife and ‘the baby girl’ is my daughter.” Eddie’s tone dripped with venom and it killed you. Eddie rarely ever got angry and even when he did it wasn’t anywhere near the level Charlie had gotten to more than a few times. The only time you ever heard him really scream and shout was during D & D or on stage. 

“Um, can I smoke in here or—”

“No.”, everyone responded in unison.

“Jesus, fine. It’s not a big deal, you know. I used to smoke around Edward all the time.”

“Yeah, that’s why I’m so well adjusted. Either that or the abandonment.”

“Look, Lynn, just tell the boy why you’re here so you can be on your way.” Wayne seemed more in control than his nephew but his anger was just as strong as he glared at the woman across from him. 

She exhales as she straightens up in her seat. “I, uh, have you spoken to your father?”

It was Steve’s turn to sigh as he sat at the foot of the stairs, you leaning against the wall in front of him where you could still keep an eye on everything. 

“What reason would I have to do that?”

“Because he’s your father.”

“Oh, fuck you. Do you really want to play that game right now?!”

“Eddie!” Wayne extended his arm towards the boy, gesturing for him to calm down. “Get to the point, Lynette.”

“He needs help. Your father has an opportunity to get his sentence reduced but he needs character witnesses. We thought…maybe…”

You growled as you began stepping forward, Steve immediately reaching out to grip your arm and hold you in place. 

“I don’t think my testimony would help. ‘Yes, your honor, he may have taught me how to boost cars, threaten people, and beat the shit out of me but I assure you he’s a really great guy!’”

“Eddie, he wasn’t perfect but he did the best he could.”

The metalhead chuckled as he rose from his chair, clenching his fists as he paced in place. “Best he could… Wayne did the best he could. I fucking do the best I can for my kids. Dad did jack shit for me and I still haven’t gotten an apology…from either of you!” 

Your heart breaks as you watch him get slowly wound up.

“Is that seriously all you showed up for after all these years? To ask me to lie for him? You seriously are amazing. You hunt me down, show up at my daughter’s birthday party, barge into our house… you don’t even bother to try and get to know me or my family…just thought ‘hey I’ll see if he’s available to lie to a judge. He definitely has nothing to lose.’”

“How did you know where he was?” All heads turn to you as you step into the area turning to face his mother. “Who told you where to find him?” Your eyes meet as she sighs again. 

“Jesus fucking Christ, Lynn.”, Wayne groans. 

“He still has friends in town including some that work at the plant with his uncle…”

Eddie’s gaze shift between the three of you trying to figure out what you all know.

“How long have you been talking to him?”, you ask. When she doesn’t answer the anger in your body starts to boil over. “Eddie has a right to know especially since he never even got so much as a fucking postcard! Yet you can keep in touch with his asshole dad.”

“Allen is my husband—”

“And Eddie was your son! How fucking dare you—”

“Baby, come on.” Steve comes up behind you and tugs you to him. “Remember, there are kids in the house. Calm down.” He reassuringly rubs your arms as you aggressively huff in his chest.

“How long?”, Eddie asks. “Since he went in?” He laughs when she nods. “Get the fuck out of my house.”

Her jaw tightens as she stands, reaching in her pocket to place a card on the table. “I’ll be in Hawkins for the next month or so. If you change your mind, just call me here.” 

Wayne walks her out as you and Steve watch the metalhead continue to fume.

“Eddie…”

“No! No one come near me right now!”

He continues to bounce on his toes as his fingers run frustratingly through his hair before abruptly hurling his fist through the air and punching the nearby wall. 

############

“Where are we going?”

“Oh, come on, Ed. You know by now 90% of the time we all get into a car, it’s bound to be a surprise to at least one person.”, Steve grins. “And like always, Dylan is the mastermind behind this venture.”

You son smiles from his place in the back seat as the other man pulls up into a parking lot. 

“Aren’t these the batting cages he practices at?”

Dylan hops out of the car, ushering for Eddie to do the same as he takes his hand with Steve following behind. You linger back to gather Aurora and allow your son to work his magic.

He leads the metalhead towards an empty area explaining to him why the helmet is important and which type of bats he prefers while his other dad finds a bench near the cage, motioning for you to sit beside him. 

“Ok, so when the ball comes, you’re going to want to swing as hard as you can.” Eddie understood enough about sports to get that was a given but, for Dylan, continued to react like this was all new information for him. 

When the first ball shot out, he swung and missed. 

“No, dad, that’s ok. I know it can be a bit fast. You have to try and keep your eye on the ball as it comes towards you and lower your hands a bit.” 

The ball shot out again and this time Eddie hit it, sticking out his tongue towards you and Steve as you both cheered in your little area. Aurora noticed and began pressing her hands together as she smiled, pointing her tiny fingers in his direction. 

The next few balls that head his way, he hits and sends towards the net on the other end that makes your son smile with pride. 

“Now, when I play, sometimes I think about… my other dad…how angry he makes me.” Eddie’s eyes meet his as he continues. “I think about how he left and how he treats my mom. How he never wanted to spend time with me like you guys do…”

Steve reached for your hand when he noticed your body stiffen as you watched them. You couldn’t hear what your son was saying but he looked so heartbroken. 

Eddie took his stance again, images flashing through his mind of his parents and how they treated him when he was a kid.

“Jesus Allen, how am I supposed to send him to school looking like this?!” His mother gestures towards the fresh welt on Eddie’s face from where his dad had smacked him. 

“Look, the little fucker almost got us caught! He cut the wrong wire and the fucking car alarm went off.”, his dad growled. 

The crack of the bat hitting the ball made you jump as he hit it harder than he had before. Over and over again, Eddie swung as hard as he could, not thinking about form or how his hands should be. With each memory he let loose, feeling the weight of the last few days lift off him. 

The machine tossing the balls whizzed to a stop as the metalhead panted, trying to catch his breath. 

“Dada.” Aurora reached his way before clapping like she had seen you do.

Eddie’s head hung as he began to cry, wrapping his arms around Dylan’s shoulders as he came to hug him. Handing the baby to Steve, you entered the cage tugging them both into your embrace. 

############

That night Eddie crashed between both of you, you clinging to his back as his head rested on Steve’s chest. While you two slept, Steve laid awake thinking about the last few days and everything the man he cared about was feeling. He hated that he couldn’t wave a wand and fix the pain the metalhead was feeling. Even though he had a much more violent up bringing in the beginning than Steve ever did, he knew what it was like to feel that abandonment when it came to both his parents. He was so grateful that his mom was being more present while trying to be better and he so desperately wanted that for you both.

Eddie’s palm moved against the boy’s chest as a tiny grumble left his lips. 

“Steve? Why are you still awake?”

“Thinking.”

“Hm. Well stop it. You have work tomorrow, man.”

“Ed, you know I love you, right? You can talk to me about anything…”

“Geez, you’re starting to sound like Y/N. ‘Would you still love me if…’”, he changes his voice to sound like yours as he smiles. 

“I’m serious, Eddie.”

Eddie opens his eyes fully as he pushes up on his elbow to look down at Steve. “I know. I just… Honestly, I thought I had left all that in the past.”

“What triggered everything these past couple of days? Was it just seeing her again?”

“Partly. Most of it was finding out she had still been talking to my dad. Couldn’t manage to pick up a fucking phone to call me but can take the time to write letters to her abusive, criminal husband. It just made me feel like I was ten all over again being left behind.”

Eddie felt your arms tighten around him as you nuzzled into his back between his shoulder blades. 

“Are you going to talk to your dad?”

“Wayne is my dad.” Steve nods in understanding before rolling on to his side to face the other boy. “Thanks, Steve. I, uh, I know we don’t…do the whole romantic thing like we do with Y/N but I do know you love me and, of course, I love you.”

“Of course.”, the boy chuckles as he reaches for Eddie’s face pulling him in for a gentle kiss. 

The other man giggles as Steve’s kisses get bolder and more passionate. “I’m kinda limited with this seatbelt around my chest.” His grin grows when he feels you hug him tighter before kissing his shoulder.

“You like it.”, you mumble with a smile as you release him from your hold and stretch. 

Steve pushed Eddie on to his back, immediately attaching his lips to his neck as he sucked and nibbled on the metalhead’s sweet spot. He lightly moaned as he turned to meet your soft but worried eyes. 

“You okay, baby?”

Eddie nodded as his thumb reached out to glide along your bottom lip before he pulled them to his own. He needed this, needed to feel and taste you both; the two people in this world that loved him unconditionally. 

Steve placed feathery kisses down his chest, reaching down into the boy’s shorts to pull out his cock. After scooting down the bed, you grab the waistband around Eddie’s hips, removing the garment to allow for more access. 

As you run your fingers through Steve’s hair, he leans down over the man’s length and a long line spit falls over the tip. Eddie groans as he strokes it with his palm, coating him with his saliva before taking him in to his mouth.  

Tilting your head, you drag your tongue along the parts of his cock he isn’t able to reach as one of your tiny hands reached to massage his balls.

“Jesus… that feels…feels so good.” 

Steve’s mouth came off him with a pop, his own tongue tracing the veins to his shaft where it found yours. Eddie perched up on his elbows, watching as you two kissed with his cock between your lips. You took over so the other man could hastily remove his boxers.

Eddie sat up, grabbing your jaw and pulling you in for a sloppy kiss before falling back down to his pillow with you in tow. 

“Turn, princess.”

When he released you, you tore off your shirt as you rolled over so your back was flush to his chest. He roughly yanked off your underwear, mewling as he glided his tip through your folds. 

“Take whatever you need, Eddie. I’m yours.”

You both moaned as he pushed himself into your entrance, kissing your neck as his arms held you tightly to him. 

The bed moved slightly as Steve laid behind him, gripping his hips as he guided his cock slowly into him. 

“Fuck, fuck, fuck…”, Eddie panted. The sound of their heavy breathing was driving you crazy as your pussy clenched around him. “Ha-harder, Steve.”

As he honored his request, you push your hips back against his own, meeting each thrust with a moan that had Eddie’s eyes flutter closed. You clung to his hand as you craned your neck as much as you could to see their faces. 

Steve abruptly pulled out, grabbing Eddie’s waist and tugging him out of you and onto his hands and knees. The metalhead’s hair hung with his head as the other boy thrust back into him, one of his palms reaching out absently for you. 

Sliding underneath him, he lifted his arm so you could find his cock and guided it back into your dripping cunt. With this new position it gave him more leverage to utilize his hips he pumped into you and pushed back onto Steve. 

“God, you both feel so fucking good.”

You whimpered as you felt the coil winding in your belly, extending your hand between you as you rubbed your clit. 

“Eddie, yes. Please… don’t stop.”

The boy pushes up on his knees and Steve wrapped his arm around his chest to keep him steady as he pounded into you. You glance up at them with admiration as Eddie’s eyes close and Steve’s head leans against his shoulder. How did I get so lucky?

“I love you.”

Both sets of eyes look down at you as you softly smile before covering your mouth with your palm, your back lifting off the bed as came. Eddie’s face scrunches in pleasure as he grunts and cums inside of you. Steve tilts him forward slightly, gripping his shoulder as he thrusts his seed into him. 

The metalhead lifts you, bringing you back up more comfortably towards the pillows and settles beside you. You play with his hair as his head rests on your chest, his arm and leg slung over your body.

“I love you to. I’m sorry if I’ve been kind of out of it these past couple of days.”

“Eddie, baby, you don’t have to apologize for something like that. I…we just hate seeing you hurt, ya know?” His mess of curls graze your chin as he nods. “I heard you answer Steve’s question but if you change your mind, we’re here for you.” 

You giggle when a shirt hits your face. “Your daughter is babbling. Clothes, beautiful people.”

You and Eddie playfully whine as he pulls on his shorts and you throw on his shirt right as Steve bounces in with a bright eyed one year old. 

“Ma’am, it is 4am. Why are you awake?” She grins as she reaches for you. “Is it because daddy let you take a nap?”

Steve holds up his hands defensively. “Okay, okay. I get it. I messed up.”

Aurora smacks Eddie’s chest and he pretends to wince. “Ow, child. I’m fragile.”

“Dada.”

“Ok, princess. You mastered dada. What about the person that pushed you out, huh?” You laugh as you lean on his shoulder. Steve climbs beside you, tenderly reaching out to smooth her hair. “Mama? Say mama?”

She rubbed her eyes as she looked around the room babbling incoherently. 

“Yeah, that’s about right.”, he chuckles. Both men try to mimic what you had done before pointing at you and repeating the word. 

There was a small knock on your door and as soon as you granted permission, Dylan’s sleepy frame came into view. 

“Why are you up, weirdo?”

“I had to go pee—”

“Thanks for the update.”

He lazily smiles at Eddie. “AND I heard you talking to Ro.”

Steve gestures him over and helps lift the boy onto the bed. “We’re trying to get her to say ‘mama’.”

Dylan grins, poking the baby’s nose making her laugh before he does the same to you. “Mama.” Her eyes widen as he does it again, absorbing his motions. Your son repeats the action, this time saying nothing when he touches your nose. Aurora’s face scrunches just like yours when you’re annoyed. 

Her tiny finger reaches for your face and you lift her to her feet as she pokes your nose like he did. 

“Ma…ma. Ma.”

“Well shit.”, Steve chuckles.

Dylan smiles in triumph as he kisses his sister’s cheek. “Dad! You can’t talk like that. We have a baby in the house.”

############

@adequate-superstar @kalinaselennespeaks @alienthings

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[writethrough]

Hi, could you do either Billy Hargrove or Eddie Munson reacting to seeing their s/o who usually doesn’t like children, interact with a baby/toddler who they actually like? Maybe the s/o was hesitant at first but then the baby just became really attached to them? Ty <3

Little Chickadees

(Eddie Munson x Gender-Neutral Reader)

Warnings: None (I think)

Word Count: 889

A/N: Full disclosure, I really wanted to write both Eddie and Billy, but Billy's version has taken on two very different paths, so I need a bit more time with his. One is a little more wholesome and fluffy while the other is on the serious side. I'll link the fluffy one with this post, but not sure about the other since it won't have the same tone.

Thank you for the request! And I hope you enjoy it!

“Eddie, you literally hang out with children all the time!” you said, exasperated.

He gripped his chest as if in pain. “Ouch!”

You groaned. “You know what I mean. It’s just…Kids don’t like me, and I don’t like them. It’s a mutual dislike.”

You were rambling at this point, and both of you knew it.

All you wanted was to spend the day with your boyfriend, but because he was such a sweetheart, he had volunteered both of you for the petting zoo at the Fourth of July carnival. And where there were fuzzy, adorable creatures, there were screaming, crying kids.

“C’mon, it won’t be that bad!” He flopped beside you on his bed. “You technically don’t even have to watch them. That’s what their parents are for. You just have to make sure no one loses a finger to a goat.”

“That’s not helping,” you said.

“Or lets an alpaca loose.”

“Eddie!” You threw a pillow at him.

“Alright!” he laughed, “Alright, I’ll stop.”

You played with the chain hanging from his jeans.

“You’ll be fine, sweetheart,” he said, rubbing your knee. “But we should probably head over. I know how much you hate being late.”

You let out a deep sigh. “Yeah, I guess.”

He offered you his hand, intertwining your fingers to lead you to his van.

You wished it had taken longer to get there. You would have rather listened to Eddie ramble about the most recent campaign than deal with the children of Hawkins.

At least the animals would distract you.

The baby goats were adorable, but you couldn’t help wincing when they bumped their heads together.

Baby ducks and chicks were waddling around in their pens, and the alpacas were corralled in fencing where visitors could see them.

“Think anyone'd mind if I took one of these guys home?” Eddie asked, holding one of the baby ducks.

You gave him a soft smile, resting your chin on his shoulder. “As much as I would love to see you play mother hen—or mother duck—I think stealing isn’t exactly the right answer.”

He puckered his lips in thought. “Yeah, you’re probably right.” He set it back in its pen. “And with my luck, it’d probably like Uncle Wayne more than me.”

You hummed and kissed his cheek. “Guess you’ll just have to settle for me.”

You went to pull away, but he quickly caught you around your waist to kiss you properly.

“There’s no settling when you’re the most amazing person I know,” he said into your hair.

Your heart beat a little faster the longer he stared. He always looked at you like you were the only person in the room. And you counted yourself grateful you found someone as kind and loving as him.

“Love you,” you whispered, touching your forehead to his.

“Love you, too.”

Excited shouts and giggles drifted as the kids bounded to the petting zoo.

“Show time,” Eddie said, reluctantly pulling away.

You sighed for what felt like the tenth time. “Yeah, yeah.”

When you got to the main area, Eddie showed some little boys the goats. And when one of them headbutted Eddie’s leg, the boys all laughed like it was the funniest thing in the world. 

And you briefly caught Eddie biting his lip to keep the groan back. He’d definitely have a bruise tomorrow.

Someone tugged on your shirt to get your attention. Holly Wheeler stood there with her head tilted back.

“Hey, Holly. Where’s your mom?” you asked.

She pointed to her right, where her parents were having what looked like a disagreement.

“Okay,” you nodded, “why don’t we look at the baby chickens? How does that sound?”

She nodded excitedly.

“Alright, Holls.” You gently picked up one of the chicks. “Sit next to me, and you can pet him.”

You both sat on a hay bale, and Holly was transfixed by the creature.

“Just use one finger and be super careful,” you said.

She slowly ran her finger down the chick's back, barely any pressure applied.

“Soft,” she mumbled, a content smile on her face.

“You like him?”

She nodded again, starting her path from the beginning. The chick lowered its head, eyes closing as the repetitive motion put him to sleep.

You grinned. “Looks like he feels safe with you, Holly.”

She giggled but stopped petting him, not wanting to wake him up.

“Let’s put him back with his friends. Wanna see the ducks next?”

She was standing by their pen in an instant.

Her interaction with the ducks went much the same. And soon enough, Mrs. Wheeler called Holly back and gave you a wave of thanks.

You had just put the duck back when Eddie sidled up beside you.

“Kids don’t like you, huh?” he teased, wrapping an arm around your waist.

You rolled your eyes. “It was a fluke.”

“Yes, of course.” He nodded as if it made perfect sense. “S’why you were so good with her, right?”

You pinched his side lightly. “Holly’s a sweet kid. Not like your little demons.” You nodded toward the group of boys now at the alpacas.

He shook his head slightly. “That goat had it out for me.”

You laughed, leaning into his side.

He kissed the side of your head. “Knew you’d be fine.”

You faced him. “Whatever you say, Dungeon Master.”

Taglist: @phenomenal-bird, @steph-speaks, @bookshelf-dust

If you’d like to be added to any tag lists, please comment or message me with the character you’d like updates on.

[allexthakatt]

That This Feeling Flows Both Ways

I was NOT expecting so many people to love that fic as much as I did! As many people requested, heres the part 2 to Do I Wanna Know?

Read Part 1 HERE

CW: Angst! But it ends in fluff, don't worry! Suggestive themes at the end. 16+?? Eddie being all cute!

🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻

Eddie was plenty of things. He was a little clumsy, loud, hot headed, maybe even a little dim at times. And being in love with you is definitely one of them.

You're on his mind constantly. Even when he's with Stephanie you always seem to wiggle your way to the back of his brain. He wants nothing more than to run to you, to beg for forgiveness and live happily ever after with you in his arms. Just like the fairy tales you would both make up when you were kids.

But then he remembers the tears that plagued your eyes that day. The heart he'd broken. Your beautiful face twisted in pain, and he stays where he is.

This isn't a fairy tale. He broke you, you wouldn't want him anymore. So he settles for her.

Stephanie isn't stupid. She'd noticed your absence and Eddie's new dull eyes. She noticed how much less his energy was now that you weren't here. He didn't tell her anything, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see what may have happened.

But... She can't bring herself to do anything about it. It's selfish, sure. She wants him all to herself, even if he is thinking about someone else.

That is until she changes her mind.

-

Eddie's finally graduating! The day is finally here, he's worked his ass off every damn day and fuck if he didn't doubt himself on more than one occasion; but he made it. He actually made it and can finally say goodbye to the hellhole he called school.

The ceremony was really long, so many names were thrown out before his name was called.

But it was worth it.

When he eventually walked across that stage, snatched the diploma right up, flipped off Higgins, and ran off stage, the air in his lungs felt fresh, and new.

The only people cheering were his friends. Dustin, Lucas, Mike, Gareth, Jeff, and Grant were all woohoo-ing and clapping for their friend. Stephanie was there too, clapping with a soft smile on her face as she sat next to his uncle, who got dressed up for the occasion and smiling brightly at his nephew.

But there was one other person who he didn't expect to see cheering him on, let alone come here in the first place.

You.

You were just standing up tall, cheering even louder than all of them. Your smile huge and proud as you hold up a large sign in the air;

WAY TO GO EDDIE!!

He felt even prouder. You'd meant it, you didn't abandon him. You'll always be his friend, even through it all. And that made this already awesome day even better.

After the ceremony, everyone starts to make their way onto the field to see their kids and grandkids who'd just said goodbye to their adolescence.

Eddie, however was already in the parking lot with his people. Uncle Wayne giving him a hug and patting his back, a few tears in his eyes that don't go unnoticed by Eddie.

"I'm proud of you, boy. I knew you could do it."

There's something so sedimental about the tone in his voice. Wayne knew everything Eddie had been through, had done, and said. Yet he still looked at Eddie like he was his own son. And Eddie couldn't be more thankful for the older man.

Everyone gave them their respective hugs or high fives and fist bumps, congratulating him on a massive milestone he'd worked so hard to achieve. Stephanie giving him a soft hug and kiss, "Good job, baby boy. I'm proud of you."

He fought the urge to cringe. Eddie never really liked that nickname. It made him feel uncomfortable especially when she'd say it during sex. He'd voiced his uneasiness to her multiple times, she still calls him that frequently. Another thing she'd do that made him think about you. you'd respect his boundaries...

"Congratulations, Eddie. I knew this was your year." Speaking of you..

You'd finally approached him with a wide smile on your face, holding your hand out with a bouquet of flowers to give to him.

You were even more beautiful than the last time he saw you.

"T-Thank you! I can't believe I finally did it, honestly. Thought I'd have to stay another year in that shit show."

He took the flowers from your hand, hugging them close as you step closer, smile still as wide as it was when you were in the bleachers.

"I knew you could do it, Eds. You worked so hard and went through so much, if anyone deserves this, it's you."

You ruffled his hair to break the small amount of tension between the two of you. Initially you wanted to hug him. However you didn't know where his boundaries laid and the last thing you wanted to do was make him uncomfortable on his special day.

"I can't believe you came! How'd you even know I was graduating?"

He tried to keep his excitement at bay, but by God if he wasn't going to take this opportunity to cherish you in person again.

"Oh, a couple little birdies may have spilled the beans to me last week."

You playfully roll your eyes and land them on a certain trio of now-sophomores. Each of them looks away quickly as if they totally were not just eavesdropping on your conversation.

"Regardless, I'm glad you came! This year has been hard, but I think it was so worth it. Thank you for coming. It means a lot more than you know."

He grips the flowers tighter, resisting the urge to pull you in for a hug.

"I told you I didn't abandon you, dork. You know I'll always be your best cheerleader."

You go in for a real hug, and it lasts a good minute before you both reluctantly pull away.

"I guess I'd better get going. A certain uncle has plans for a special dinner I hear!"

"Hey! That's a surprise, miss!" Wayne butted in, not thrilled she ruined the surprise, but still ecstatic that she actually showed up for his nephew.

You laugh, the first real laugh you've had in a long while. It felt good to see everyone again. Oh how you missed hellfire and hanging out with them at lunch. It seems like so long ago, such a simpler time.

"Enjoy the rest of your day, Eds. I'll see you around, okay? Congratulations again!"

You shoot everyone one last genuine smile and finally make your way to your car.

Maybe it was the way his smile wasn't forced, or the way there was barely a foot between you two. Or maybe it was just you showing up for him in general even when he said you weren't on talking terms. Whatever it was, Stephanie seemed to finally wake up to reality. He wasn't hers, he never was. He was yours, has been for a very long time.

She decides it's finally time to step out of the way and say goodbye to Eddie.

-

There was a certain... Tension? In the air between Stephanie and Eddie. They'd been attempting to watch some movie together, but both were distracted. Oddly enough, by the same thing.

You.

For different reasons, however. It had been exactly two weeks since they'd last seen you. Stephanie was waiting for the right moment to give him up. It was proving rather difficult, however, due to how much she really likes him. He makes her laugh, he takes her on dates, he treats her like a real person, and holy fuck if he wasn't a God with those fingers..

But she doesn't have his full attention. You're all he's been thinking about, it's become even more apparent since his graduation.

She can't continue being selfish. He's fun, and exciting, and so fucking caring, but he doesn't care for her like he does for you.

And the only thing keeping him from being with the one he cares most about- is her.

"Eddie, we need to talk."

She pulls away from his side, standing up to turn off the abandoned movie.

"Okay? What's on your mind?"

Keep it short, Steph... She thinks to herself. If she rips off the bandaid quickly, maybe it'll hurt less.

"I think we need to break up."

Eddie stands up as well. Where did this come from?

"W-What? Break up? Why? I thought we were going strong?"

She gives him a look as if to say 'Really?'

"Be honest with me, Eddie. For once? You were never mine, and I was never yours. I think we both know where you'd rather be right now. And it definitely isn't here."

She was getting hostile, and she knew it. It hurt, but this was right. She couldn't continue knowing he'd just be settling for her. She deserved better than that.

"And who said that? I'm the one who asked you out right? Why are you doing this?"

The tears were coming, from both of them. Stephanie shakes her head, holding her arms in front of her chest, hoping it'll shield her better from the pain.

"Eddie, be serious. You're so in love with her you practically have it spelled on your head. And don't even try to pretend you don't know who because you know exactly who I'm talking about."

Of course he knew who she's talking about. It's you. It's always been you.

"Eddie I really like you. Hell, I might even love you. But you don't like me. Maybe you did once but that feeling isn't there anymore. And I will not keep sitting here pretending it doesn't bother me."

She takes a few steps closer to him,

"I think we had a lot of fun, Eddie. And holy shit, will I miss you. But... I think this will be best. For both of us. I deserve better, and so do you."

He knew she was right, it wasn't fair to her that his mind was constantly on you. That even when he was intimate with her he wished it was you that was under him. Shes right; she deserves better.

She leans in, giving him one last deep kiss. Her hands find their way to his hair, his hands at her sides. It lasts a few more moments before she pulls away, grabbing her things before walking to the door.

"Ill see you around, Eddie. Goodbye."

And then she was gone, leaving him alone in the living room. Alone with his thoughts.

-

It was pretty late at night when you hear a knock at the door. So light if you weren't paying attention you wouldn't have heard it. Until it starts knocking louder, waiting to be answered.

You pause your movie, putting down your popcorn bowl and make your way to the door, where the knocking is more persistent now. Looking through the peephole you see the last person you'd think of, looking disheveled and red-eyed. Opening the door, you face the man that's plagued your mind all these months.

"Eddie? It's almost 1 in the morning! Come in, Eds it's freezing out here."

You lead him into the house, in the living room where you'd just been. He turns and looks at you, wearing a tank top and short shorts. Clearly ready for bed but from the look of the living room it seems you're halfway through a movie night all by your lonesome.

"Steph, she.. She broke up with me, man. I-I didn't know where else to go, Y/n."

His eyes are watering once again, tears threatening to spill on your floor. You run to him, hugging him tight and holding his back.

"I'm so sorry, Eds. You don't have to tell me anything, okay? But if you wanna talk, I got all the time in the world."

You gave him the warmest smile he'd seen from her. Initially he was worried this would be awkward, however standing here, in front of you in your living room at almost 2am, he realizes this is the most comfortable he's been in weeks.

"S-She just said it's not working out anymore. I just didn't wanna be alone tonight. I'm sorry if I interrupted anything.."

You shook your head, still holding tight on his arm.

"I'm actually halfway through Sleepaway Camp. Wanna join?"

You hold up the VHS box with a small smile on your face. His shoulders relax a little, smiling back at you and sniffling just a bit, nodding and you drag him to the couch.

The rest of that night was the best night Eddie had in a very long time. It was like no time had passed at all between you two.

As you both watched the cheesy horror flick you cracked jokes about the kills and the eventual plot twist at the end. He laughed and dramatically gasped as you 'spoiled' the ending for him, even though you'd both seen this movie at least 50 times together, making you laugh harder at his antics.

There was no tension, no weird lingering stares or awkward glances at each other. This felt nice. It felt right. Eddie felt at peace, recognizing just how much he'd missed you. You're his best friend, after all.

However now, Eddie knows he'd rather take your relationship a step further.

Stephanie was nice, but she wasn't you. No one could measure up to you. There's no one else Eddie would want to be with than you.

-

It'd been months since that night. You and Eddie were back to being inseparable again, and while Eddie wouldn't want to complain about having you back in his life, he wants more.

It's taken him a while, and weeks of denial from him that this was even happening. Pep talks to himself in the mirror more times than he can count, he's finally accepted it.

He's desperately in love with you.

He should've realized it so much sooner. It would have spared you both so much heartache, but now he sees why Stephanie wasn't enough. She just wasn't you.

He wants you, all of you. Your love, your touch, your midnight talks and daytime cuddles. He wants to see you every day and give you hugs and kisses and smother you with his love. He wants to take you on dates and hold your hand, showing you off to everyone in town that he was yours and you were his.

But... Will you accept his love? You'd confessed to him once, and he turned you down. What if you did the same? What if he lost his one chance to be yours? You bore your soul to him almost a year ago, had your feelings for him changed?

God, he hopes not.

But no matter what, he hopes you'll stay in his life. As a lover, hopefully. But as a friend, he'll still take it. Now it's just a matter of telling you his truth, and hoping you didn't change your mind.

-

A Sunday afternoon. A rare day you both had off, too! Eddie had managed to snag a job at a local record store downtown. A job that suited him well. He was brimming with joy when he showed you the paperwork.

"I got it!! I fucking did it! I wowed them with my amazing music knowledge, and I start monday morning!"

You were so happy for him, so incredibly proud to see how far he'd come in his life. He still tried his best to keep up Corroded Coffin, but until all members are graduated, there isn't really much he can do. Until then, 'Recordzz' is more than enough to occupy Eddie's time.

You worked at a bakery a few blocks from the record store. It was a nice, quiet little bakery that always smelled like vanilla. You always did love baking, this job couldn't be more up your alley.

This Sunday, Eddie had planned to spill the beans to you. He was going to tell you just how much he cares for you; just how much he loves you.

He can only hope you still felt the same way.

Laying on your stomach on his bed with a joint in one hand, flipping through a comic book with the other, Eddie takes this time to admire you. You know, just in case this is the last time he sees you like this.

Metallica is playing softly in the background, and he figures this is as good a time as any.

"Hey, I kinda wanted to talk to you 'bout something."

He sits up on the bed and you follow suit, putting out the joint in the ashtray on his nightstand.

"What's up?"

You have a relaxed smile on your face, a combination of being a little high and very content, just in your own little world with your favorite person.

"Remember a year ago, when you... confessed to me h-how you felt about me?"

Your smile falters, just a little. Nervousness kicking in.

"I remember... Why?"

Eddie grabs your hands gently, rubbing soft circles with his thumb.

"Do you... Do you still feel that way?"

Panic.

Pure fucking panic.

Why on earth is he bringing this up? You tried so hard to bury that memory deep in your brain, never wanting to think or be reminded of it again. You'd embarrassed yourself, lost your best friend, and broke your own heart all in the same day.

Yeah, you didn't like to think about it.

But the way he's looking at you, so hopeful and scared, you couldn't bring yourself to lie to him.

"Eddie I'm gonna be honest with you, I don't think I could ever stop loving you. You were, and you still are, my everything. And I truly don't think that will ever change."

A sigh of relief escapes his lips, but he's not celebrating yet.

"I should have realized this a year ago. Y/n, I'm so in love with you. You're my first thought when I wake up, and the last thought before I sleep. You're my favorite person and my best friend. I see you in my life for as long as you'll have me. I wanna be with you, and not just as your best friend. As your boyfriend. And... If you'll let me, I will spend the rest of my life making up for the time we lost together."

His hands had found their way to one of yours, holding them against his chest tightly. Afraid you'll somehow disappear if he lets go.

"Ed's..."

You brought your free hand to his cheek, rubbing it softly.

"I didn't think I'd ever hear those words from you. Do you really mean it?"

He nodded, taking a quick glance to your lips, then back to your eyes.

"I don't think I could ever lie to you, baby. I want you in my life, as a lover, not a friend. If you'll allow me..?"

Without answering, you lean in. Lips finally touching his in a moment of passion. Your hands find his hair, his arms wrap around your back and lean you back down on the bed, hovering over you. You slightly open your legs for him to rest between them, your bodies growing closer and closer, until you break the kiss for just a moment.

"I love you too, Eddie. I always will."

He smiles widely, grabbing your hips a little tighter and leans in again, this time a bit more hungrily.

It was going to be a long night...

🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻

It's finally done!!! I hope you all liked it, and I certainly hope it was worth the wait???

I'm a wee bit backed up on requests, but rest assured, if you've sent one in I am working on it!

Everyone who requested a pt 2: @ali-r3n @toobsessedsstuff @munsonmecrazy @bibieddiesgf @eddiemunsonsgf2 @notbeforelong @munsonzzgf @daisyridleyyyy @slightlyvicked @ghostiegorlie

[highlordofkrypton]

Thank you @goldheartedchaoticdisaster for tagging me! You know I love these games 💞

I'm actually working on two WIPs right now. The first one is inspired by @angelosearch -- it's a recipe book with each chapter being each character's favourite foods.

Martha Clark loves pie. She loves the way it moves beneath calloused hands—hands that have worked the farm all day. The strength just as much as it demands attention, threatening to crumble at a careless touch. She loves the way it shapes the man who kneads it, outlining the divot between muscle and bone of his forearm. He’s got his sleeves rolled up, and oh, what a sight to see.  Her teeth catch on her lip, a little too thoughtful as she watches. “Bored?” The farm boy asks. “Not at all,” answers the city girl. “Tired?” “Not at all.” His grin is dashing, a flash of bright white framed by deep dimples. His nose looks impressively straight, except for the faint bump that she’s traced a hundred times over while laying in his arms, cradled by his bed. He’d broken it in high school roughhousing with his former teammates on the football team. Jonathan Kent is all but a mystery, but she loves every single thing about him. “Come, I’ll show you.” He gestures to her, and she slips off of the stool to wipe a stray dusting of flour off his face.

And the second WIP is a pretty straightforward fic: Bruce Wayne as The Equalizer. This excerpt is from chapter 2 bc I love me some baby Jason 🙌

Oasis Apartments are exactly nine minutes away from North Avenue, except during rush hour where the light have an added two minutes to them. It’s situated right by the highway and drinks up all the sounds of rumbling vehicles through the building’s too-thin walls. Bruce can tell when an eighteen wheeler drives by from the faint rattle of the windows.  The only thing even faintly resembling an oasis is the dirty pool in the centre courtyard with its peeling palm-tree lining. He can even make out tiki torches trapped somewhere in the overgrown greens. He didn’t pick the Oasis for its amenities or its comforts. In a place like this, no one asks questions. Either they’re too shitfaced to care, or too worried about how to make ends meet before the next rent is due. He doesn’t even care that it’s close to the Depot; he’d applied for the job after signing the lease and paying (in cash). Bruce walks the steps up to the third floor where his apartment is. There’s an elevator in the building, but he’s pretty sure it hasn’t worked for over a decade. Swinging his lunchbox in hand, he thinks about Barry’s plight and how to help and he pays no mind to the sounds of living filtering in through the various apartment doors.  His thoughts come to a halt as his gaze travels towards a boy sitting at the top of the steps of the third floor. His gray eyes drink in the child’s appearance—his ever ratty clothes, never combed hair and worn shoes—before setting on the open textbook on his lap. “Cheezus Christ, Mister Bruce! Took you look enough,” the kid grins, flashing his missing tooth—his right lateral incisor. “Language,” Bruce clips, too tired to put on a smile. Not that his unsociable personality would stop Jason from coming over. He’d explicitly started showing up in Bruce’s life regardless of how welcoming he was. “What? It’s not like I said ‘fuck’.” Bruce stops in his tracks and levels the kid with a deadpan stare. “What?” Some battles just aren’t worth fighting.

No pressure tags at my usual suspects because I don't have many mutuals, sorry if I missed anyone! @anartisicandautisticstararcher @angelosearch @songofthesibyl @achaotichuman @agirlandherquill @goforth-ladymidnight

WIP Wednesday!

Tagged by @sophiainspace thank you!

Not sure if this will be in the final draft or not... but here's something from Trophy!

Barry opened his eyes “No.” He looked around, taking in his new surroundings with a mounting horror. “No, no, no, no–” The events of earlier were coming back, shattering his entire world all over again, a world that was spinning before his eyes. “No, no, no, please–” He didn’t know who he was begging, the universe, the speedforce maybe– anyone who could undo what he couldn’t.

@negative-speedforce @vexic929 @shrinkthisviolet @i-hate-happy-endings @practically-an-x-man no pressure of course !

[lapetitechatonne]

Can I have this dance?

i am so obsessed with this ship, so here’s some more content.

ao3 link here

Kate’s Masterlist here!

Dani would never admit it, but she enjoyed being able to dress up on occasion. No matter how much she denied it, her time with Vlad made her like the finer things in life. Now, don’t get her wrong, she didn’t crave it like he did, but she could appreciate it.

Still, it felt odd, looking at herself in the mirror.

Her velvet, emerald dress was a simple silhouette, just slightly hugging her curves and a long slit up the leg. Her favorite part was the straps, which less resembled straps and more resembled a diamond necklace. They were a simple chains with beautiful stones that sparkled when she moved.

She put on the thin necklace that matched the straps, as well as a pair of dangly earrings Pamela insisted on. Not that Dani minded, Pamela was a bit much but the woman liked Dani better than any of Sam’s other friends, so she wasn’t unbearable. That was why Dani was going to the gala in the first place, Sam demanded to bring a friend and Dani was the only one Pamela could stand.

Dani slipped on a pair of long pearl-colored gloves and gave herself another once over. Her dark hair was pinned up, curls perfectly falling to frame her face. She liked the contrast against the white of the gloves.

“Are you ready?” Sam asked, her own silky plum dress catching in the light.

“As I’ll ever be.”

---

Mar’i could think of ten thousand things she’d rather be doing than attending another stupid gala. It was so unfair that Mar’i was the only person in her family who knew how to act at them. Like, get it together people, it’s just embarrassing at this point.

Whatever, not that it would change anything. The press was enamored with her every move as not only the first baby to be born into the Wayne family in how long, but also because she was the daughter of a model. Anytime she didn’t show up there were articles about it. Which, rude, where were the articles about Damian and Tim not being there?

Sexist press, with their stupid double standards and their stupid obsession with her.

She hated it here. But at least she got to wear a pretty dress. She liked pretty dresses, even more so if they twirled nice.

“So, any lucky boy yet?” Gag her with a spoon. “You know, your dad used to be quite the heartbreaker in his day. I always thought he’d end up with that Barbra girl myself. Funny how things work out, isn’t it?”

Mar’i focused very hard on not breaking the glass in her hand. God, didn’t these old women have anything better to do than gossip about her love life?

“No, I’m focusing on my studies right now,” She flashed her charming Grayson smile and the old ladies huddled around her cooed about her being so focused.

Mar’i spotted her dad out of the corner of her eye and excused herself. He was retreating to the snack table—not without her damnit.

That was until she collided with another person and spilled her drink on them. Fuck, this was going in the paper, wasn’t it?

---

Dani had no idea this would be so goddamn boring. She was going to die of boredom, again.

Everyone here was old. And annoying. And Sam had been whisked away the moment they got here, so why was Dani even here.

Dani ate another very small snack that she didn’t even try to pronounce, and contemplated just, phasing through the walls. Would anyone see her? Probably not, and Sam was preoccupied so it would be forever until she noticed. But neither of them had their phones so she couldn’t let her know she left without actually talking to her. Damn.

A waiter with a tray of champagne passed her and Dani was tempted to grab one but decided she should probably just find Sam. Escape plan or not, Dani was tired of being alone with these stuffy losers.

Why did they all have to smell like that? It’s like she’s walking through the worst perfume store ever, honestly, you’d think being this rich they could afford something better—

“Shit—” Dani bumped into someone and their drink spilled on her arm, soaking her glove and almost knocking her over. Damn, they were strong.

“Fuck, I’m so sorry,” Dani looked up and immediately felt her body freeze.

The girl’s eyebrows were furrowed in concern, her dark wavey hair half pulled up and half falling down her back. Her lilac tulle dress shimmered in the light—she looked like a fucking fairy.

The most beautiful fairy Dani had ever seen.

“Let me help you clean up, gosh I’m such a klutz.” The girl took Dani’s hand, and she could feel herself blushing.

Dani let the girl pull her through the crowd, careful to not trip on her own goddamn dress. The girl weaved through the crowd with practiced ease, her own t-length dress fluttering with each step. Was it weird that Dani liked the way she walked?—she’d have to ask someone later. Probably Tucker. He’d make fun of her the least.

The crowd started to thin, and suddenly they were in a hallway. They made a couple of turns that Dani didn’t retain at all—Pandora would be disappointed—before stopping at a bathroom.

The girl pulled out a washcloth—from where?—and ran it under the faucet. Dani took that as her queue to take her glove off.

“I really am sorry,” the girl pouted, and Dani could feel her heart beat a little faster.

“It’s okay,” Dani let out a strained laugh, “I was looking for a way out anyway. I’m not great in crowds of people.”

The girl looked up, her bright green eye almost seemed to glow while the glitter around her eyes shimmered in the bathroom lighting. Her smile was warm and welcoming, like she had all the love in the world to give.

“It can be a bit overwhelming, it’s it your first time?”

She put the washcloth down and picked up a hand towel, lightly drying Dani’s arm.

“Yeah, I’m here with a friend, well, really, she’s more my brother’s friend—but I um, I lost her. A while ago.”

She laughed, and Dani decided it was her favorite sound. God, she sounded like one of those bad romance books Jazz thought she hide well. She could practically hear Danny teasing her.

“I’m Mar’i, by the way. Hand me your glove?” Dani fumbled for a second before passing it over.

“I’m Danielle, or Dani—with an i—if you um, want.” Dani blushed, again, god what was wrong with her. Surly she was coming down with something because it was way too hot in here.

“My name’s spelled with an ‘i’ too, isn’t that funny?” Her heart skipped a beat. “Well, it shouldn’t stain,” Mar’i said as she ran the glove under steaming water, “but better to wash it out just in case. My dad’s lost quite a few shirts that way.”

“Well, um, thank you. For helping. Pamela would never forgive me if I ruined her gloves,” Dani laughed, and tried not to be as awkward as she felt, but it was hard with the way she could hear her own heartbeat. Usually, she couldn’t even tell if it was beating to begin with.

She was definitely coming down with something. A ghost sickness? Was the Gotham smog just finally getting to her?

“Well,” Mar’i turned off the water and rung out the glove, “that should do it, but you can’t very well put it back on.” She scrunched her nose and Dani had the sudden urge to reach out and soothe the line on her face. Because that wasn’t weird or anything. “I suppose we can hang it in the kitchen for now, we’ll just have to get it back to you before you leave.” Dani’s heart thumped at the idea of seeing Mar’i again. “Is that alright?”

Dani nodded and Mar’i beamed. Dani found herself grinning back.

“I’ll take you there, so you know the way in case you can’t find me later.”

“Lead the way.” Dani tried not to be too excited about going off with Mar’i. It was just because she was more interesting than anything else here. Yeah, that was it.

---

Mar’i walked out into the hallway and waited a moment for Dani to catch up. She adjusted the neckline of her emerald green, velvet dress, and Mar’i thanked the stars that she didn’t spill any on her dress.

It was a beautiful dress. The thin straps were made of gold chained jewels that matched the small pins that decorated her dark hair. Mar’i tried not to let her breath catch as Dani carefully removed her other glove and folded it up in her hand.

Dani joined her in the hallway, and Mar’i realized she was staring. She felt her cheeks heat up as they walked back the way they came.

“So,” Mar’i turned to see Dani looking around the hallway, “you know this place pretty well. Do you come to these things a lot?”

“I should, it’s my grandpa’s house,” Mar’i laughed. Dani blushed, and it made Mar’i want to tease the girl more. She looked cute like that.

“Oh, well, it’s a um, very nice house.”

Mar’i hummed. “It’s nice, but sometimes a bit too big to be comfortable. It helps that we have a big family, but still.” Huh, that wasn’t something she would usually say. God, she hoped Dani didn’t tell the press she said that, they’d label her an ungrateful snobbish socialite or something like that.

But, for some reason she couldn’t bring herself to be too worried. Something about Dani was just. . . it was different. There was something about the girl that Mar’i couldn’t quite put her finger on.

“Like, it almost feels wrong to take up space, like you don’t belong,” Dani’s voice was quiet and there was a far-off expression on her face that made Mar’i want to pull her close, until she was completely present with Mar’i.

“Yeah,” Mar’i sighed instead, “but Grandpop does his best. He’s good to us like that.”

The troubled expression on Dani’s face got darker, and this time Mar’i didn’t resist the urge to reach out and hold the girl’s hand.

Her hand was cold, but not unpleasant. Like dipping your hand in a cool river, soft and engulfing. It was nice against her naturally warm skin. She took a moment to admire how their hands weaved together. Dani’s was a soft, cool white compared to her own warm brown skin. It was almost poetic, like those poems about the sun and the moon.

Dani’s eyes snapped to her hand, her focus shifted out of whatever made her look so sad. Mar’i was quite please by that, and even more so when Dani began to blush but didn’t move her hand away. Mar’i felt her inner flame flicker, warmth filling her chest.

They finished their walk to the kitchen in silence, luckily it seem all the staff was out serving leaving them alone.

“We can set them over here,” Mar’i laid the damp glove over the back of a dining chair, breaking her hold on Dani’s hand. The rush of heat back to the palm of her hand was uncomfortable, and perhaps a bit sad. Mar’i didn’t want their time together to end.

“Thank you,” Dani’s blue eyes looked up at Mar’i through dark eyelashes—and oh god, Mar’i was a goner. Yep. She had a big ass gay crush on this girl. “You really didn’t have to go through all the trouble of helping me.”

“Sure I did, I’m the one that spilled my champagne on you to begin with,” Mar’i giggled, “just don’t tell my dad. He doesn’t like it when I have a glass, but it’s hard to get through these things without one.”

“Right?” Dani sighed in relief and finally relaxed. Mar’i hadn’t even been aware of the underlying tension in the girl’s body until it was gone. “It’s so boring. You’d think a bunch of rich people could afford something more entertaining.” They both laughed, and Mar’i felt light in a way she usually didn’t at these events.

“It’s always so stuffy, it’s honestly nerve-wracking. I actually can’t remember the last time I had a real conversation at one of these things.”

The blush was back on Dani’s face, and Mar’i just wanted to kiss her little button nose. God, she was such a lesbian.

“Talking to you,” Dani shifted her weight and rubbed the back of her neck, “has been the most fun I’ve had all night.”

Their eyes met and Mar’i grinned.

“If you want,” Mar’i spoke before her rational thinking could stop her, “I can show you around a little bit. I’m sure no one’s missing us, and the gardens are really pretty this time of year.”

Dani looked at her, her crystal blue eyes wide and cherry lips slightly parted. Mar’i could feel her inner flame flare and she had to consciously think about keeping the flames out of her hair. Dani smiled, and Mar’i almost lost her control.

“I’d love to.”

Mar’i smiled so wide it hurt. She took her hand again and pulled her out the back kitchen door. They walked down the path past the greenhouse to the garden below the ballroom balcony. Alfred always made it look extra special for galas.

The spring breeze was cold, but not unpleasant. Small ground lights lined the cobblestone path and illuminated the rose bushed that had just bloomed. They were a mix of reds and pinks, the scent swirled in the air around them.

“Wow,” Dani said looking around in awe, “this is like something out of a picture book.”

“You haven’t even seen the best part yet,” Mar’i laughed. Dani looked at her with wide eyes, and Mar’i wondered if there was any merit to love-at-first-sight. Or if she was just a hopeless lesbian. Probably both.

They continued down the path until they finally came to the center of the garden. The beautiful stone fountain with a small cupid statue on top rained down water that sparkled in the low light. There were flowerbeds lining the rose bushes, yellows and purples contrasting the pinks of the roses.

Mar’i smiled as Dani giggled and pulled them both to the fountain. They could just hear the music drifting out of the ballroom over the rush of water, and Mar’i thought it sounded prettier like this.

Dani reached out and let the water run over her fingers. The look of wonder on her face was worth any backlash of disappearing halfway through the gala. Besides, it’s not as if it was the first time—and probably wouldn’t be the last.

“You can see the stars much better out here,” Dani’s eyes drifted to the sky, “but still not better than at home. Only a few constellations.”

Mar’i looked up at the sky, and despite being familiar with the stars, she couldn’t say she knew many earth constellations. After all, Tameranian space travel was far more advanced and useful.

“You know the constellations?” Dani’s face lit up.

“I love the constellations. I think there’s something wonderful about the idea of stories written in the stars. Like this cluster over here,” Dani pointed and Mar’i moved closer to see where she was pointing at. Dani smelled like lavender and rain, “that’s the Pleiades. The myth is that they were the seven daughters of Atlas, and Orion ruthlessly chased them. They prayed to be free of him, and so Zeus turned them into doves, and then into stars to keep their father company while he held up the heavens. It’s said that the Orion is still chasing after them in the stars.”

Dani’s eyes lit up when she spoke, her free hand waving in the air to emphasis to her words. The carefree smile on her face made Mar’i want to melt.

“How tragic.”

“That’s not even the worst one,” Dani moved, pulling Mar’i along by their joint hands to point at another constellation, “That’s Cassiopeia, and this one,” She moved then again, but this time she let go of Mar’i’s hand and moved behind her, pointing at some stars over her shoulder, “is Andromeda. They’re mother and daughter actually.” Mar’i found it hard to focus on Dani’s words when one of her hands rested on her waist and minty breath tickled her ear. “You see, Cassiopeia was a queen and she claimed she was more beautiful than the sea nymphs, and the nymphs got so mad that they asked Poseidon to punish her. He sent a sea monster to her kingdom, and the only way to stop it was to chain her daughter Andromeda to a cliff and sacrifice her.”

“That seems a bit dramatic.”

“It’s okay,” Dani laughed, “Perseus saved her. He was walk by after killing Medusa and used Medusa’s head to turn the sea monster into stone. Wild shit.”

Mar’i turned to look at Dani, who was still looking up at the stars.

“You really know a lot about them.” Dani blushed and looked at Mar’i, then looked away.

“I like stories,” she said quietly, “I think because there’s so much to learn from them.”

“I think that’s beautiful,” Mar’i said softly. Mar’i turned around fully, offering a hand to Dani. “Would you like to dance?”

Dani nodded placing her hand in Mar’i’s. Mar’i placed a hand on Dani’s waist, Dani’s other hand on Mar’i’s bicep. Dani’s cool touch was relief from the burning fire in her chest threatening to take her over. As they swayed to the music playing distantly in the background Mar’i had to focus on keeping her feet on the ground.

Dani was looking at their feet, even though they moved perfectly in sync. Mar’i felt time stop as a violin solo played in the background and Dani lifted her eyes to meet Mar’i’s. It was like looking into a swirling galaxy and seeing endless opportunities in front of you. Her eyes, they just held so much hope. More than Mar’i ever thought possible.

It made Mar’i’s heart sing and the solar warmth heat her skin. It made her want to fly above the clouds and just laugh with joy. Looking into Dani’s eyes, Mar’i had never felt so free.

---

Dani had never thought herself the romantic type. Sure, she read all the romance books Jazz kept under her bed, and maybe she liked a good romantic comedy—she was a clone not a heathen—but she never saw herself feeling fluttery because a pretty girl asked her to dance in a garden.

She also never imagined that a pretty girl would want to dance with her in a garden. Vlad made it pretty clear that she was unperfect, unlovable. Jazz and Danny and everyone always told her differently, but sometimes she couldn’t shake that tiny voice in the back of her head telling her she was nothing—that she would never be anything.

But here she was—slow dancing in the most beautiful garden she’d ever seen, with a girl that was way out of her league smiling at her like she was something.

The warmth of Mar’i’s hands took the permanent chill out of her skin, like she was a cat laying in the afternoon sun. It made something in her core purr, it wanted closer, closer, to the source. She wondered how it would feel to curl up in Mar’i’s arms and just be.

Dani looked down at their feet as they moved, too afraid that if she looked up, she wouldn’t be able to stop green from flooding her eyes.

The moment she did, it was like the world stopped spinning.

Looking at Mar’i was like looking at the sun, so bright and beautiful that it hurt. Her green eyes were so bright—too bright to be human almost, but Dani didn’t really mind. Because in this moment, Mar’i eyes refracted like emeralds and her lips shined like strawberries, and the only thing Dani could think about was if they would taste like strawberries.

Dani couldn’t be sure who started to lean in first, or when their lips finally meet, but the moment they did Dani’s heart pulse with her core, a rush of blood and ectoplasm flooding through her. The lips on hers were even warmer than she imagined, and she did taste like strawberries and something sugary. Through the dizziness and captivation, Dani pulled Mar’i closer, a hand on the back of the other girl’s neck, a hand resting on her shoulder.

Mar’i’s hand on her waist pulled her in, her other hand came to rest on Dani’s check, and she thought it might have been the gentlest anyone had ever touched her. Not like she was made of glass, but like you would touch a rose petal, searching and delicate and all at once. Dani decided it was her favorite kind of touch.

She leaned into Mar’i’s hand, pulling her even closer until Dani couldn’t tell where she stopped and the other girl began. The smell of roses and lilacs settled in the air between them, anytime Dani took a labored breath she thought it was magical and hoped it lingered.

When they finally broke apart, Dani could barely breathe. The air felt thinner and her world was disoriented, but Mar’i pressed her forehead to Dani’s and every worry washed away. Mar’i nudged Dani’s lips back to hers with a small movement, and this kiss, it was different.

There was still gentleness, but their grasps were tighter and hearts were beating faster. Mar’i bit Dani’s lip and the sound she let out probably wasn’t human, but Mar’i slipped her tongue inside her mouth anyways. She tasted sweeter like this.

“What the fuck—”

Dani’s eyes snapped open, she pulled back from Mar’i, only noticing a moment too late that they’d been hovering at least three feet in the air. Dani fell to the ground, losing her footing in her heels and falling towards the fountain. Mar’i grabbed her arm, but it wasn’t enough to stop the momentum.

They feel into the fountain, Mar’i’s warm body over hers. Damn—she definitely had water in her ears.

“Jesus, Mary, and fucking Joseph, what the fuck?” Dani peaked out from behind the curtain of Mar’i’s hair—so that’s where the lilac smell was going from, focus damnit—to see a slightly disheveled man running up to them. His tie was crooked and he looked like he hadn’t slept in days—maybe Dani could convince him he had a hallucination.

“Uncle Timmy!” Mar’i’s voice shot up a few octaves and Dani could feel her skin getting hotter. “We were just—i mean, it’s not what it looks like.”

Mar’i fumbled over her, and Dani admitted she was slightly enjoying it, before pulling herself over the edge of the fountain. She reached back in and heaved Dani to her feet, almost causing them to tumble back down. God, she was a mess. And now she smelled like—she didn’t know, stale water and leaves? Whatever it was she didn’t appreciate it.

“I can’t believe—do you know how many reporters are here! You could have outed yourself!” Tim—she thought she remembered Pamela talking about a Tim Wayne—whisper shouted at them. He was turning a concerning shade of red.

“It was just a little kiss—” Dani was going to try the ‘you-hallucinated-the-flying’ route.

“A kiss?! Most people don’t kiss three feet in the fucking air,” he threw his hands up before taking a deep breath. “This is fine. Everything is fine. God, Dick’s going to kill you, and then me.”

But why would ‘Dick’ do that when Mar’i wasn’t the one flying? Wait, could she fly?!

“Please don’t tell dad.” Mar’i walked up to him and gave him the cutest puppy dog face Dani had ever seen. If that girl looked at Dani like that? She’d gladly do anything. “It was just a little mistake, please Uncle Timmy?”

Dani could pinpoint the exact moment he caved in his expression.

“Okay, okay, fine. But you two need to go change, before anyone with a camera sees you. Otherwise, we’re all fucked.”

He ushered them back up the manor like he was expecting a reporter to pop out of the bushes at any time. Soon they were back in the kitchen and being pushed down a hallway that Dani hadn’t even noticed. It was a secluded hallway without much décor, obviously made for quicker and more discreet trips around the manor.

Dani could feel herself growing more anxious with every step. She didn’t know how she was going to explain this, and she couldn’t even think about Sam right now. She was so dead. Again.

Tim pushed them into a room—god, he had more nervous energy than one of those tinfoil hat people, he should really see someone about that.

“Okay, both of you stay here, dry off or whatever. I’ll tell them that you weren’t feeling well or something. Yeah. Something.” He was gone as quickly as he came with a slam of the door.

They both stood there, staring at the closed door for a moment. God, what even was her life? This was ridiculous.

“Um, there’s a bathroom through here,” Mar’i gestured to a different door. “I can grab you some clothes?”

“Yeah, that sounds, uh, good?” Dani said, shifting her weight back and forth.

Mar’i nodded and moved to pull some clothes out of a ridiculously big closet. Dani glanced around, noticing the circus posters and star maps she’d never seen on the walls. There were also pictures hung up on a cork board above a desk, lots of Mar’i with various different people. She noted that Tim showed up in a few.

Mar’i riffed around, throwing a piece of clothes on the lavender bedspread, and Dani realized that they were in her room.

Oh.

She was in Mar’i’s room. A pretty girl. That she’d kissed.

When Mar’i turned around holding out a small pile of clothes Dani was certain she looked like a tomato.

“Let me grab a towel before you get in there, feel free to use anything you need,” Mar’i disappeared and reappeared with two fluffy white towels in her hand. “Here, oh um, I’ll knock when I’m done changing.”

“Thanks,” Dani took the towel and walked into the whitest bathroom she’d ever seen. She closed the door and leaned against it, a little afraid to touch anything because of the sparkly pristineness. That was except for the vanity area around the sink that had a bunch of makeup products sprawled out over the surface.

Still, her dress was starting to itch.

Dani huffed, throwing the stuff Mar’i gave her on the closed toilet seat and began peeling off her wet dress. The body-shaping undergarments underneath were even harder to get off than they were to get on—she was never letting Pamela bully her into this shit again—but soon enough she was standing in the strange bathroom naked.

Somehow this wasn’t how she saw her night going.

Dani toweled down, enjoying the soft fluffy fabric against her skin. Normally she would just phase the water off her, but she already had enough she couldn’t explain. That was just asking for trouble.

After she was dry, she put the towel aside and pulled on the clothes Mar’i gave her. The top was a simple black tank top that fit well enough, but she was swimming in the sweatpants. Dani pulled the strings tight and rolled up the cuffs—three fucking times, god she hated being tiny—but she still looked ridiculous.

Well, at least she looked less like a sad wet kitten now.

Dani felt cool water trickle down her neck and realized she hadn’t dried her hair. She started by taking out the pins holding her curls up, which honestly didn’t look too bad. Whatever these Gothamites put in their hairspray really did the trick. She distantly wondered if it would hold up to ectoplasm too because Jazz would kill for some of that.

After getting the pins out Dani shook her head, shaking the curls from their spot glued to her head. She scrunched them with her towel, trying to preserve them at least a little bit.

Mar’i knocked on the door causing Dani to jump a bit. She was tenser than she thought.

“I’m decent if you want to come out. If you’re ready, that is, no pressure.” It sounded like she wasn’t the only nervous one.

Dani took a deep breath and stepped out. Mar’i was standing in front of a mirror towel drying her hair, only in a sweatshirt and shorts. From this view, Dani could appreciate Mar’i’s long brown legs and solid thighs. They looked like they could crush a watermelon—and that certainly did not have Dani drooling a little, thank you very much.

Mar’i turned around, a frown forming on her face, “If those are too big I can try to find something else, I’m sorry, I didn’t even think—”

“Don’t worry,” Dani found herself grinning at Mar’i’s concern, “they’re nice and comfy.”

Mar’i smiled at her, and Dani felt her heart melt a little.

“I’m glad, I still can’t believe that—well, ya know.” Mar’i slouched, her eyes focused on her feet and it didn’t suit the girl at all. Dani decided that Mar’i should never be unhappy or worried, at least not as long as she could help it. Not when her smile was pure sunlight.

“I’m so sorry about that—” Dani began, only to be cut off by Mar’i’s frantic voice.

“You’re sorry, I’m sorry. You never would have lost balance if I hadn’t. . .” Mar’i gestured to the air with her hands, looking genuinely distraught—which only confused Dani.

“That wasn’t your fault, I’m not very good at. . .” Dani gestured to the ground and hoped she conveyed something meaningful.

“Still, I should have been more careful.” If Dani was confused before, she was lost now. Did Mar’i think she was the one that made them float? It wasn’t like kissing Dani would unlock hidden powers—

Oh.

“Can you—ya know?” Dani gestured to the air again. Mar’i tiled her head, her sad expression replaced with confusion.

“Can you?” Mar’i squinted her eyes at Dani.

They stared at each other, the height difference between them becoming very apparent. It hadn’t been bad when she was in her heels, but Dani will be the first to admit that she got the short gene and Mar’i had very nice, very long legs. The other girl stood almost a whole head taller than Dani.

It was kind of hot. Damnit—dumb gay brain, focus. Flying. Right the flying.

“I mean,” Dani had no idea where she was going with this sentence, “I thought that I did the thing, but if you thought that you did the thing, then we both. . .” Nowhere good that’s where. “Ya know. So that means. . .” Dani trailed off.

She had no idea what she was saying. Why did she start talking again?

“I think I get it,” Mar’i said—which, that made one of them—and moved closer so Dani had to look up at her, “so that means we’re. . . I mean we’re the same, I guess?”

Dani frown her eyebrows and tilted her head. “So you’re a—”

“Alien.”

“—ghost?”

Oh, they fucked up. Dani could tell Mar’i was thinking the same thing by the look on her face. It took seconds for it to morph into a concerned frown.

“Wait,” Mar’i reached out slowly giving Dani more than enough time to pull away and grabbed her hand. She gently turned it over, palm up, like she was examining it. When she looked back up Dani thought her eyes looked mistier than before. “You’re—you’re dead?”

She said it like Dani told her she forgot her inhaler, concerned but not overly worried. It made Dani giggle a bit.

“Half. Half-dead. A halfa.” Dani could see the wheels turning in Mar’i’s head. She reached out and took Mar’i’s other hand. “Don’t think about it too hard, it’ll hurt your head,” She placed Mar’i’s warm hand over her heart, and she couldn’t tell if the warmth was from her blush or Mar’i’s skin, “all that matters is that my heart beats. A little slowly, but it’s still there.”

Mar’i’s face softened at the edges, she released Dani’s hand and brought hers up to the back of Dani’s neck. It felt nice there, warmth spreading through her tease shoulder muscles.

“I’m half alien. Tameranian.” Mar’i’s words brushed over Dani’s cheeks and the taller girl leaned down.

“Guess we’re both halfas, huh,” Dani giggled, and this close she could feel the laughter in Mar’i’s chest.

Dani looked up, and once again saw a soft green glow from Mar’i’s eyes.

“You’re eyes. . .” She trailed off, unsure if she was imagining the glow.

“They glow,” Mar’i laughed again, “we hide them with a holo-projector, secret identities, and all that.”

Dani reached up a hand to cup Mar’i’s cheek, “Mine glow too.”

Mar’i smiled and lifted her hand from the back of Dani’s neck to her ear. She pressed her forefinger against her earing, and Dani heard a soft beep before watching the holograph around Mar’i’s eyes fizzle out.

They were so green. Her eye whites were actually a soft green, her iris was a richer green, and Dani found them endlessly fascinating. They weren’t ectoplasm green, despite their persistent glow, instead, they reminded Dani of fresh grass or pine trees.

Dani blinked, finally letting go of the tight control she had over her eyes. Her eyes lit up and Mar’i gasped, eyes fluttering between both of Dani’s like she was trying to take in every detail she could.

Mar’i moved her to Dani’s waist and lighting pulled her in for another kiss. This one was softer, sweeter, than the others, and much shorter. They broke apart, the green glow of their eyes lighting the space between them.

“I won’t tell if you won’t,” Dani said, still a bit out of breath. She wanted this to stay between them. Their own little secret.

“Pinky promise,” Mar’i giggled, lifting her hand from Dani's chest and holding out her pinky finger.

Dani laughed breathlessly, raising her pinky to clasp Mar’i’s. With their clasped pinkies between them, they leaned in for another kiss.

[icerosecrystal]

Marijon - My Secret Older Sister

Her name is Marinette Amani Al-Ghul. Marinette is the first grandchild of the demon-head and the daughter of Talia Al-Ghul. She is also the older sister of Damian Al-Ghul by two years. Despite what others may think, both she and her brother came from the same man. Bruce Wayne. Although Damian has no idea who his father is, Marinette has known for eight years. Despite the young age of 12, she was an incredibly smart girl. She also possessed the ability to be happy and feel love. But not in front of anyone but her brother and sometimes her mother. She and her brother had a great relationship. They were always there for each other. Damian was there for Marinette when her grandfather Ra's would sometimes beat her for not doing well on a mission. And he would base it solely on her gender. Marinette was there for Damian the first time Damian had to kill someone. It disgusted him, but he continued doing it for the sake of his title.  

Then the day the League fell came. Slade had attacked when Ra's was showing the whole League to Damian and explaining that it would all one day be his. Marinette was standing behind them next to her mother. Ra's had told her mother to grab both of them and run. Marinette protected her brother throughout it all when suddenly, Marinette got shot in the stomach. She collapsed in pain. She saw her mother running back to them, so Marinette let go of Damian, who was looking at her worriedly, "Damian, my akhi, go run, save yourself. Tell Mother to take you to Father. I'll be fine."

Damian was crying now, "NO, I won't leave you, you have to come with me. Please don't leave me, ukhti."

Marinette smiled sadly. She then hugged Damian and kissed him on the cheek, "I love you. And I promise I will find you one day." She let go of his hand as Talia quickly grabbed his arm and lead him to the docks, glancing at Marinette once in worry.

Marinette was lying still for a little bit before she heard a voice say, "Tom, I found her!" Marinette turned her head to the side and saw her godmother, Sabine Cheng recently Dupain-Cheng, hurrying over to her, with her godfather Tom not too far behind.

When they reached her, they gasped at the wound in her stomach. Tom picked her up and quickly walked to the docks with Sabine following. "Where we going?" Marinette said her voiced slurring, herself only half-conscious due to the blood loss.

Sabine answered, "We're going to Paris. We had a house there just in case we ever had to escape the League."

Marinette nodded in turn before she closed her eyes, letting the exhaustion take over. "Good night," she heard before she was fully asleep.  

Marinette woke up to an unfamiliar scene. She tensed, but when she caught sight of her godparents, she relaxed, "So what's the plan?"

Sabine was the one who answered", Well, you aren't allowed to act like the devil in disguise." Marinette scoffed, but she didn't argue, knowing Sabine was right. She may be sweet with her family, but with strangers and acquaintances, she wasn't the nicest. "Also, you are going to be Marinette Dupain-Cheng. You are the daughter of two bakers, Tom and I, and you are a designer. You will also be clumsy and stutter a lot."

Marinette nodded in understanding, "Okay, but what about Damian?"

Sabine sighed, "You're just going to have to hope that one day you find each other again."

Marinette nodded in understanding. She then went up to her new room, ready to put on a mask for the rest of the world to see.

(Time Skip)

It was now the start of the tenth grade for Marinette. She was now thirteen-years-old, and she was ready to play her part of the clumsy baker's daughter. She took some macaroons for her new classmates and then walked outside. While she waited to cross the street, she caught sight of a man crossing the street. A car was heading right to him. Regardless of who she was pretending to be, she wasn't going to let a man get hurt. She ran and quickly pulled him to the sidewalk, effectively using it as an excuse to trip over her feet. She handed the man a macaroon and then ran to school.

At school, she sat down quietly in her seat. When a dark girl, with brown hair and auburn highlights, picked a fight with a blonde girl. The blonde girl was supposedly bullying Marinette. Marinette and the blonde girl exchanged looks, acknowledging that the girl before them was a load of bull. Marinette then found out that the blonde girl's name was Chloe, and she was a bully, and the other girl was Alya.

Marinette looked around the classroom, analyzing everybody.

She then heard a voice scream, "Kim!"

She looked behind her to see a big, burly blonde kid, look like he wanted to beat up somebody. The teacher then asked him, "Ivan, what is going on?"

The blonde kid replied, "It's Kim! I'm so going to get..."

The teacher then pointed to the door and shouted, "Ivan, go to the principal's office."

Before Ivan could stomp off angrily, Marinette spoke up, quite surprised by the way the teacher was handling things, "With all due respect Miss, you didn't even listen to Ivan's side of the story. It could be Kim that's bullying Ivan, but you're rather playing favoritism."

The teacher sputtered, not knowing how to react, "Who gave you the authority to question my teaching skills?"

Marinette smirked, replying, " Common sense."

Mrs. Bustier walked out of the classroom to calm down, pure fury clear on her face. That day she turned into Zombispect. When she kissed them, they would automatically obey and respect her. That was also the day Lady Spots and Chat Noir resided in Paris.

While Lady Spots was a great superhero, Chat Noir was an incompetent fool. Marinette hated him. He would always flirt with her and never get anything done. And in many cases, if he didn't get what he wanted, he would either threaten to quit or sit out. Marinette never told him, but she honestly thought that she did better in battle when he wasn't around.

In terms of her civilian life, Alya convinced herself that she was Marinette's best friend and that Marinette had a crush on Adrien. In actuality, Marinette's best friend was and is her brother, Damian, and Chloe. While Chloe was spoiled, she was also neglected by her parents, which made her act rather bitchy at times. And she for sure did not have a crush on the spineless Adrien Agreste. No one in the class knew anything about the real her. But her godparents and even Chloe, who knew a bit about her. But, the one person that Marinette wanted to talk to was her precious little brother. She needed to hug him, spoil him, and talk with him about everything. But most of all, she wanted to know that he was still alive and happy somewhere.

Marinette would cry herself to bed every day, hoping that one day she would see him again. Thankfully, Tikki was on her side.

(Time Skip of one year. This is after Volpina, but before Chameleon)

It has been two years since Marinette last saw her brother. Alya was still going strong, coming up with ridiculous plans for her to date Adrien. She was still a "clumsy" baker girl. And while designing was her supposed hobby, after about a month, she really got into it. What pissed Marinette off the most was that she had to wear pink, have her room pink, and wear pigtails. Why? Because it strengthened the fact that she was an innocent, little, naive girl. While it did help people underestimate her, it annoyed the heck out of her. She actually ranted to her godparents one day about how bad her appearance was, "How can one color be so bright?! How could anyone like looking at it?! Why the hell do these pigtails make me look like a short-ass baby?! I look like a fucking moron! Where the hell is Damian when you need him?!" It was about three days later when her question was answered.

Marinette had been walking around town when suddenly someone bumped into Marinette.  Marinette caught herself and caught the person she bumped into. But the words that came out of the person's mouth had her reeling, "Tt, what type of imbecile are you to be bumping into people on the street?" Marinette would know that voice anywhere. And sure enough, when she actually looked at the person that she bumped into, she was staring into the face of her brother. When he realized who she was, he let out a timid, "Marinette," that had Marinette practically sobbing.

When she found that her face was wet, she realized that she was sobbing, but she didn't care. Damian was alive. She strangled him with a hug, cooing softly into his ear once he too started crying. They stayed like that for a while before they released each other. It was then that Marinette saw the boy standing behind Damian.

She blushed when she noticed his features, black hair like her own, the bluest, purest eyes she had ever seen. He was wearing glasses that gave him a nerdy look, but his body begged to differ. He was very tall, probably 5ft 11, and had huge muscles that gave off more of a jock look. He had so many characteristics that Marinette felt insanely attracted. She snapped out of her thoughts and offered the boy a hand, "Marinette Dupain-Cheng, or Marinette Al-Ghul, Damien's older sister by two years."

He gave her a blinding smile that could rival the sun and then kissed her hand, "Jonathan Kent, Jon for short. It's nice to meet the sister of my best friend." The more she studied him, the more she realized that he looked familiar. It was then that she realized he was Superboy, the superhero Alya had been raving about last week.

Marinette blushed at him kissing her hand. She then decided to let her inner devil come out to play. Leaning closer, she whispered, "It's nice to meet you too. I hope that you have been nice to my brother. Because if I found out you haven't, I might get my katana and skin you. I know that you might be invincible, but with the kryptonite, which I do have, you would be weakened within a second. So make your decisions carefully." She then leaned back and watched how his expression changed. His face went from happy, to confused, to shocked, to scared, and the surprisingly, love.

He smirked, "Well, you are better than I expected." He then pulled out a piece of paper and wrote his phone number. "Call me, you're hot and a little devil, I like it." He then winked and gave it to her.

They both heard Damian scream, "KENT! Stay away from my sister before I skin you!"

Marinette giggled and took the piece of paper from him. She then asked, "You look to be about my age. Why are you with Damian?"

Jon replied, "I'm 15-years-old. So one year older than you. (I know that Jon is actually three years younger in Super Sons, but for this to work, Jon is three older, not younger. If you have any problems with that, fight me.) And Damian and I work together a lot. We're considered the Super Sons, so we're best friends."

Marinette nodded in understanding before suggesting that they all go to a coffee shop to talk. Damian and Jon agreed. Damian told Marinette all about their father, their brothers, and sisters, him being Robin. He told her everything. She offered him support and asked questions about their family.

When it was her turn, she explained how Tom and Sabine saved her and how she came to Paris. And how she is pretending to be a clumsy sweet girl who likes pink. (She wasn't totally over the whole pink thing along with the pigtails.)  That coaxed a laugh out of both Damian and Jon. But when she got to the part about Alya, Damian wanted to skin Alya. He was Marinette's best friend, not some dumb harlot. When she explained how she was Lady Spots, and Chat Noir had some major failings as a partner, it took both Jon and Marinette to hold him back. He continued trying to escape while shouting, "LET ME AT HIM, HE DARE FLIRT WITH MY SISTER!!! I'LL SKIN HIS SORRY ASS BEFORE RIPPING HIM INTO SHREDS AND DUMPING HIM IN A RIVER!" He then continued to explain exactly how he would kill Chat Noir. Marinette knew that he was capable of going through with his plan, so she distracted him by asking for his phone number so that they could stay in contact. Damian calmed down enough to give it to her.

When she realized how late it was, she gave a hug and promised to meet up with him for the rest of the week. She also promised that once he left Paris, she would stay in contact. She wasn't going to leave her brother again. She then went up to Jon and kissed his cheek before saying goodbye. She then turned around and went home. If she had stayed a second longer, she would have seen Jon blush and then touch the cheek that she kissed with his fingertips, a goofy smile adorning his lips. Although Damian wanted to keep Jon away from his sister, he supposed Jon was better than the mangy cat or the spineless model.

For the rest of the week, the three met up every day and did different activities. One day they went to the Lourve, another an arcade, the day after that a carnival, and so on. On their last day, they went to the park and then went for Andre's ice cream. When they arrived, Andre greeted Marinette, "Bonjour Marinette! Would you like a sweetheart ice cream."

"Oui Andre. This is my brother Damian, and his friend Jon." She then turned to the boys, "Andre is the sweetheart's ice cream maker. He essentially gives you icecream based on the characteristics of your soul mate. Damian, how about you go first."

Damian stepped in front of the cart, "Ah, Damian, one scoop of violet and honey for her eyes, coconut ash for her hair, and cherry for her mysterious and complicated past. Here you are." (There is actually such a thing as black ice cream. It's made with coconut ash that people sometimes flavor with burnt honey vanilla.)

Damian took the ice cream and looked at it. He then realized that it looked like Raven, his crush. He blushed. "Ah, I see the love fair and true. I suppose you know who is right for you?" Damian nodded and started eating his ice cream, a small smile gracing his lips. He then paid attention to his sister and his best friend. They were now getting their ice cream.

Andre looked at the two and said, "Ah, but here's the truth, the two of you are the right match. You complete each other just like one, so come, let Andre supply you with love." Marinette and Jon were both surprised by the turn of events. But they both just blushed and agreed. Andre then said, "Blueberry for both your eyes, strawberry for her lips, cherry for his secret, and cotton candy for your personalities. Enjoy!"

Jon and Marinette waved goodbye and then ate their ice cream. They were still surprised about the turn of events. Neither knew what to say to the other until picked up some courage and asked, "Would you like to be my girlfriend?"

Marinette was surprised but agreed. They shared a chaste kiss. They then heard Damian gagging in the background. They broke apart, and Jon raised an eyebrow, "You're one to talk. I saw your ice cream. It really represented, mmph." Damian covered Jon's mouth before he could blurt out the name of his sweetheart.

"Kent looks like it's time to go! By the way, if you hurt my sister, I won't hesitate to kill you." He then dragged Jon off, leaving Marinette to chuckle to herself. The next day, she said goodbye to Damian and Jon. She gave them both a quick hug along with an extra kiss for Jon. She was so happy that she had found her brother again.

(Time Skip of three years)

It has been three years since Marinette bumped into Damian and Jon in Paris. The two visited whenever they could, the same with Marinette. But they never told their families. Marinette didn't tell her family because they didn't know she was Ladybug. Damian didn't tell because he wanted his sister to himself. Jon didn't tell because the other two didn't. Jon's and Marinette's relationship was still going strong. They loved each other very much. Jon loved how playful and happy Marinette could be, but she wouldn't hesitate to kill anyone. She was his little devil. Marinette loved Jon because of how pure and sunshiny he was. She loved how he cared for her and was always there for her no matter what. Damian actually started a relationship with Rachel Roth otherwise known as Raven as Andre's ice cream had indicated all those years ago.

During the three years, many things had changed, though. A girl named Lila came and turned everyone against her except Chloe. Marinette pretended that she was sad, but really she was ecstatic that she didn't have to hang out with morons anymore. She found Lila quite pathetic. Lila let others do her dirty work for her. She hid behind lies and morons. Marinette never found her as a threat.

She also defeated Hawkmoth a year ago, but it was because he surrendered. So, she didn't take him to jail, she made him donate thousands of dollars to people who needed therapy from the akumas and do community service. He agreed, so she let him go. She was glad that Gabriel Agreste had learned his lesson.

Yeah, for the most part, everything was going fine, she wasn't stuck with morons, and she had her brother and boyfriend. Until her brother and significant idiot forgot that her bio family didn't know about her.

It was the end of another shitty day for Marinette. She collapsed on her chaise. She looked at the time and realized that it was time for her's and Damian's video calls. She groaned before getting up and getting her phone. She dialed his number before waiting for him to pick up. Once he did, she saw that Jon was with him. They all talked together animatedly. What Damian and Jon forgot to do, was make sure that the Bat-family didn't come back from patrol while they were still on the call. But naturally, the two idiots forgot.

So, two hours later, when the three were still talking, they didn't realize when Jason came into the room. They only did when Jason screamed, "Demon Spawn and Supes Junior are talking to a girl on the phone!" This alerted the rest of the Waynes, so they all ran into Damian's room. When they entered, they were met with quite a sight. A confused Jason was watching a small pixie-like girl screaming at Jon and Damian in what seemed to be Arabic, Urdu, Russian, English, French, Spanish, Romanian, and Greek.

Once she calmed down, although she was still glaring at the two boys, she introduced herself, "Hi, my name is Marinette."

Dick asked her, "What's your last name?"

Marinette replied, "It depends on who your asking. Here in France, I would be Marinette Dupain-Cheng. In the league, I would be Marinette Al-Ghul. But, my real name would most likely be Marinette Wayne."

Jason yelled, "Your married to Demon Spawn!"

Marinette scowled, "No, Tt, are you always this incompetent? I am Damian's older sister by two years. I am also Jon's girlfriend of three years."

Bruce took a deep breath and pinched his nose, "And the reason none of you said anything was because?" He looked directly at Damian when asking the question.

Damian snapped, "I didn't want to share my beloved sister. She is too good for you imbeciles. She is also too good for Kent. But Kent is better than the mangy cat or the ugly model."

Everyone looked at Marinette confused except for Damian and Jon. She quickly shook her head, "Don't ask. If you want to ask me some questions, I'll be there in a minute."

Damian realizing that she was going to use the horse miraculous to transport to Gotham quickly said, "Wait, no, don't!" But she had already ended the call making Damian curse in Arabic.

Seconds later a portal appeared and a girl stepped out. She then spoke, "Kaalki, dismount." A flash appeared around her and they then saw the same girl on the phone now in front of them.

This left Wayne's gaping, while Alfred asked, "Mistress Marinette, would Kaalki I assume, need anything?"

Marinette replied, "Oui, she prefers sugar cubes to recharge. Merci, Alfred."

Then Jon got up and shouted, "My little devil!"

"Sunshine", Marinette exclaimed in joy before kissing him with full force. He kissed her back passionately. She placed her arm on his shoulders while he held her waist and lifted her a little off the ground. After a little bit, there was an awkward cough that reminded them that there were others in the room. They gave each other one more peck, before reluctantly pulling away. Although, Jon's arm was still around her waist. Marinette tried to not focus on the aching in her chest that was telling her to pounce on Jon and smother him in love and kisses while he did the same to her.

Marinette sighed and tried to focus on the situation at hand, "It's nice to meet all of you. My name is Marinette Al-Ghul Wayne, and I am Damian's sister as mentioned."

They all stared at her strangely until Tim asked, "Are you sure you grew up with Damian, or that your mother is Talia Al-Ghul? You seem a lot more different from Demon Spawn."

She smirked at them viciously, "First of all, I am for sure Damian's biological sister. Second of all, I may seem like an angel, but I'm the devil in disguise, hence Jon's nickname for me. Third of all, I'm not as arrogant as Damian because Ra's was always abusing me since I was a girl. So, I am a lot worse than Damian, I just don't show it."

No one knew what to do with this information. Sure Damian already knew about the beatings, but no one else did. They stared at her in worry, but she just waved them off, "Don't worry about me. Ra's is dead, I'm living with my godparents, and I'm happy."

Damian then rose an eyebrow, "What about your moronic classmates?"

"Oh, I didn't tell you. This pathetic girl who threatened to take my friends away, made it so that no one talks to me anymore. So, yay! Oooh, also I should probably explain my life to you?" She then went on to talk about everything, how her life was at the league, what happened when Slade attacked,  her life in Paris and when she became Lady Spots, how she met Damian and Jon, what happened after that.

By the end of her story, everyone looked like they wanted to kill her classmates and Chat Noir. Well, almost everyone. Bruce was on the ground muttering to himself, "Why, why, why? I just wanted one of my kids to not be a superhero. Is that too much to ask for?"

While Bruce had his breakdown, Tim asked her, "Did you defeat Hawkmoth?"

"Yeah, I did. He surrendered, so I let him off with some requirements in place. I actually was thinking of doing something to expose Lila. As much as I hate the morons, their future will be horrible if they keep on listening to that pathetic bitch."

Damian looked at her curiously, "What were you thinking?

"You are going to invite my class to the Wayne Gala. There we are going to introduce the whole family, including me. Damian, you are going to bring Raven. I'll bring Jon obviously. If we disprove that she knows the Waynes, the rest of her lies will come crashing down." Everyone smiled obviously pleased with the idea.

So they spent the next month getting the gala together. They organized a contest that Bustier's class won. During the month, the Waynes got to know Marinette. While Damian did have a problem with sharing her, everyone still go to know her. They were officially scared of her after she won after sparing against everyone and then cussing at Damian in many languages. It made Jon fall more in love with her though.

Another problem was that the Waynes would walk into Jon's and Marinette's make-out sessions all the time. Once, Jon, had Marinette pushed up against a wall and he was kissing her passionately. Marinette had her hands in his hair, one of them playing with the ends of his hair. She had taken off his shirt and was kissing down his neck. Jon had groaned and had stopped her so he could kiss her neck as well making her moan in want. He was whispering about what he wanted to do with her at the same time. Through dazed eyes, Marinette looked up and finally saw her family looking at her, both Damian and Bruce had their jaws clenched. When Jon noticed them, he quickly let go of her. Dick, Jason, and Tim started laughing, cooing, and teasing them, making Marinette hide her head in his chest. This made Damian launch himself at Jon, but before he could, Marinette had already disarmed him. She screamed, "Don't hurt my boyfriend, Damian." He just huffed, but let it go. From then on, they made sure to lock the door.

It was finally the day of the gala. Marinette saw all of her classmates. They mostly looked nice, but Lila was wearing an incredibly revealing dress.

It was then time for the reveal. Bruce went up to the stage and announced, "Good evening, everybody. I am pleased that you could all attend. Today, I would like to introduce all of my children along with their significant other. To start, my oldest son Richard Grayson, also known as Dick Grayson along with his wife Kori Grayson."

(Bruce's suit)

(Dick's Suit)

(Kori's Dress)

"My son Jason Todd."

(Jason's suit)

"My son Tim Drake."

(Tim's suit)

"My son Damian Wayne with his girlfriend Rachel Roth."

(Damien's suit)

(Rachel's dress)

"Finally, my new found daughter, also Damian's biological older sister Marinette Wayne. With her date Jon Kent."

(Marinette's dress) 

(Jon's suit)

When her classmates saw Marinette they started screaming insults. She just raised an eyebrow at them, "Is there a problem?"

Alya yelled, "Yeah there is. You're not a Wayne, you never told me that you were."

Marinette replied, "We were never best friends so I was under no obligation to tell you anything. I am a Wayne. I just lived with my godparents in Paris until my dad found out about me. I am dating my handsome boyfriend, Jonathan Kent. I have given you so much proof. How about you question Lila. She claimed that she was dating Damian. Damian is two years younger than her and he is dating Rachel. She isn't close to the Waynes, I am. So, stop questioning me and question her."

Everyone looked at Lila, but she was incredibly pale. That showed everyone that she was lying. They started yelling at her. Bruce then spoke up, "Security, escort this class out of the gala." As security did so, no one stopped yelling at Lila.

Marinette and Jon then turned to the reporters and Marinette said, "Five questions go."

She pointed to one reporter, "Where do you live?"

"Paris like I mentioned earlier."

She pointed to another, "How old are you?"

"I am 17-years-old, almost 18."

She pointed to a third one, "Were you surprised about being a Wayne?"

"No, I knew that I was a Wayne my whole life. But I was sent to my godparents instead of my dad like Damian. But I still knew." She pointed to her family, "They were surprised about my existence."

She pointed to a fourth reporter, "How do you like being a Wayne?"

"I really enjoy it. They are so nice to me. I really cherish them and we all have a lot of fun together. "

She pointed to a final reporter, "Do you like being Jonathan Kent's girlfriend and how did you meet?"

"We met when I bumped into him and my brother in Paris. We spent the week together. We got this thing called sweethearts ice cream. The ice cream tells you who your soulmate is. The guy who runs it Andre said that we were meant to be together. Jon asked me to be his girlfriend after. We have been a couple for three years. I love Jon a lot. He's really sweet and considerate. I wouldn't trade him for the world." Everyone awed.

Jon then picked her up bridal style, "Now that this is over, we'll be going home to have some fun." He winked at everyone.

Marinette blushed at the implications, "JON!" But, Jon silenced her with a passionate kiss, carrying her off the stage.

As Marinette kissed him back, she felt so happy. She had a loving family and boyfriend. They accepted her and cherished her.

She didn't know that the league was going to be attacked, but it helped her grow as a person and escape abuse. She didn't know that she would get a boyfriend. She didn't know she would ever meet her little brother ever again or meet her family. She didn't know what the future had in store for her. But she did know that she was going to spend it with her boyfriend and her family, and nothing was going to stop her.

(Sorry for the pictures smack in the middle of everything!)

[hobeymakar]

Something Better | N. MacKinnon

Words: 2,608

A/N: Since I’m sad about the Avs losing Game 7, I figured the only way to not fall into a depressive state is to write something cute to turn the failed breaking of the 2nd round curse (it’s been almost 20 years) to something positive :) In this, COVID-19 is still going on and yes, the playoffs did go on as it did this year

Warnings: swearing and alcohol use

-

You wake up and feel a wave of nausea run through you. You run straight to the bathroom and manage to make it to the toilet before emptying the contents of your stomach out. After the nausea goes down, you brush your teeth and wash your face before heading to the kitchen to take your prenatals and make some breakfast. Yesterday, officially started your 10th week of pregnancy and you can’t believe how quickly your pregnancy is flying by. It seems like just yesterday you found out you were pregnant alone, while Nate was playing his exhibition game with the Avs in Edmonton.

You didn’t want Nate to find out about your unexpected pregnancy while in the bubble, so you tried to keep it as secretive as possible. The only people beside your family that knew were Mel and Gabe Landeskog and Erik Johnson, because EJ apparently finds out everything like he’s some FBI detective or whatever. Luckily, EJ and the Landeskogs can keep their mouths shut and vowed to not tell Nate. You wanted to tell him in person, not over FaceTime.

You finish your breakfast and clean up the kitchen, before heading back to the room to get dressed for the airport. You shower and wash your hair before changing into one of Nate’s old Halifax Mooseheads shirts, leggings, and Adidas sneakers. You need to buy some maternity clothing soon since you’re almost done with your first trimester and your bump is starting to actually show. You blowdry your hair and put on minimal makeup before grabbing your things and leaving the house. You get into the car and drive off towards the airport. 

After a while, you arrive at the airport and make your way towards the arrivals terminal and greet all the Avs WAGs. The ones who are moms can tell right away that you’re pregnant but vow not to say anything to anyone, until you’re ready. After what feels like forever, but it’s only half an hour, you see the players starting to come out. The second you see Nate you run straight into his arms, throwing caution to the wind. It’s the longest you’ve been without your husband since you two started dating in 2014.

“Y/N!” he smiles, holding you in his arms tightly.

“I missed you so much, baby!” you cry out, a couple tears of joy starting to slip from your eyes.

“I missed you even more, baby!” he replies, kissing your forehead.

You stay in each other’s arms for a few more moments before he gently places you back on the ground again. He takes your hand in his and you guys leave the terminal together and head back to the car. You both get into the car and finally take off your masks.

“How was the flight?” you ask, as you start the car.

“Long and depressing, but I’m glad I get to come home to you again,” he smiles, kissing your hand.

You put the car into drive and leave the airport, while he puts on WHATS POPPIN (Remix) by Jack Harlow, Tory Lanez, DaBaby, and Lil Wayne. You know Nate is back when only rap music is being played in the car again. After a while, you make it back to the house and Nate goes straight to the room to unpack, while you take the time to go to your office and call Mel.

Mel answers on the third ring and you can hear Linnea crying in the background.

“Hey Mel is this a bad time?” you ask, not wanting to take her away from her motherly duties.

“No, not at all. Linnea’s just cranky because Gabe accidentally dropped his gear and woke her up from her nap,” she explains.

“God, he better get her back to sleep then,” you reply, shaking your head.

“Oh he is! He’s in the nursery right now, trying to get her to go back to sleep,” she explains.

“Good! Serves him right for ruining her nap schedule,” you tease. “Anyway, are we still on for Nate’s belated birthday party surprise?”

“Yes, we are! I’ve been in contact with the other girls and the guys and we should all be there for 6. So, you should tell him you’re taking him out for dinner and then when you come back from dinner, everything will be set up! He won’t suspect anything,” she explains.

“Alright, awesome. Thanks Mel,” you smile, glad your surprise party for Nate is gonna go off as planned.

What you don't know is that Nate is outside your door and heard you mention the birthday party surprise. He leaves the hallway quickly so that you don't know that he was listening to you talk with Mel. You get off the phone with Mel and exit the room, glad to see that Nate is nowhere near your office. You find him in the living room, getting his laptop set up.

"Hey babe, are you hungry?" you ask.

"No, I ate on the flight. I'm gonna zoom with my parents and sister if you wanna come join," he offers.

"Of course!" you smile.

You love talking with the MacKinnon family. They all love you and are so glad that you turned Nate into a man. Nate starts the zoom call and you're instantly greeted with the faces of Graham, Kathy, and Sarah. 

"Hi, Y/N! How are you?" Kathy greets, a giant smile on her face.

"I'm great, Mrs. MacKinnon, now that your son is back home. How are you?" you ask.

"Y/N darling, how many times do I have to tell you to call me Kathy? We're family now, sweetheart. I'm doing well. I'm so happy to see you again," she replies.

"It must really suck to have my brother back home, eh?" Sarah teases.

"I won't get peace and quiet anymore, that's for sure," you tease back, causing Nate to groan beside you.

"I don't appreciate this spousal abuse!" he whines.

"This is why you're my favorite sister-in-law, Y/N!" Sarah giggles, having way too much.

"She's your only sister-in-law, Sarah!" Graham informs her.

"I know that, Dad! She's still my favorite!" Sarah shushes him.

Yeah, you definitely love the MacKinnons. You all catch up on what's going on with the MacKinnons informing you and Nate on what's going on back in Cole Harbour. You also inform them what's going on in Denver without of course telling them about your pregnancy. Although with the looks Kathy is giving you, she must already suspect it. Moms tend to have a pregnancy radar like that. After a while, the MacKinnons have to go and the Zoom call ends.

You and Nate take advantage of a lil nap time, since the pregnancy makes you take naps more frequently.

"Babe, get ready. I'm taking you out to dinner," you inform him.

"Why can't we just have dinner here?" he pleads.

"Because we haven't had a date night since the pandemic happened and I want to go out," you explain.

"Whatever m'lady wants, m'lady gets," he teases in a stupid accent.

"You're insufferable," you groan, shaking your head in disbelief.

You two get ready to go to dinner and you had already set up a reservation at a nice steakhouse for 6pm. You arrive at the steakhouse downtown at 5:40pm and valet park it. You make your way inside and wait for your table to be ready, before being escorted by the hostess to your table. You both sit down at the table and look at the menus.

"Hi my name is Alex and I'll be your waiter tonight. Can I get you both started with some drinks?" the waiter asks.

"Can we get a bottle of your best red sauvignon, please?" Nate asks.

"And I'll just have this water," you add.

"No problem," Alex smiles.

He pours you a glass of water from the water pitcher as Nate gives you a look of confusion. Alex then leaves to get the bottle of wine.

"You're not gonna have any wine?" he asks.

"No, not tonight, babe. Not really in the mood for it," you lie.

"Okay," he replies, not totally buying the lie.

Alex comes back with the bottle of wine and you both place your orders. You check your phone and see that Mel texted you saying that everyone is at the house setting up for the surprise party. You two pass the time talking and Nate brings up heading back to the offseason house in Cole Harbour and you tell him you're unsure if you wanna go back since it's basically the end of summer anyway and the offseason is so short this year.

"So you wanna stay in Denver then?" he asks.

"I just don't know if it'll be worth it to only be there a month or two," you reply, when in reality you wanna stay here for your entire pregnancy.

Your food eventually arrives and the both of you dig in. You quickly realize how much you miss date nights with Nate and how much you just missed being with Nate in general. Dealing with the majority of your first trimester alone was definitely challenging and something you thought you would never have to deal with. 

After a while, you finish eating and the waiters bring a piece of cake for Nate and start singing happy birthday, while you record it on your phone.

"Happy belated birthday, baby!" you cheer, after the waiters finish singing.

Nate blows out the candle and everyone claps. The waiters all walk away and Nate throws you a look.

"Really?" he asks in annoyance, shaking his head.

"Stop being a baby! You really thought I wasn't gonna make up for missing your birthday?" you ask.

He starts eating his cake, anyway and you eat half of it. You finish eating the cake and you pay the check, much to Nate's dismay.

"Babe, I can pay for things too. I run my own million dollar business," you glare at him.

"Sorry," he replies, raising his hands up in defense.

You leave the restaurant and check your phone, seeing that Mel texted you that the house is all set up and everyone is there.

You decide to drive, much to Nate's dismay, but you sternly remind him that he had a whole bottle of wine. You arrive at the house and park in the driveway. You walk up to the front door and go in first, seeing the house completely dark. Nate follows in and turns on the lights.

Everyone shouts surprise and Nate acts like he didn't know about it ahead of time. Gabe cues the music and everyone goes up to him and wishes him a happy birthday.

"Thank you baby," he smiles, kissing you.

"You're welcome," you smile back.

All the kids are running around and the girls and guys are chatting about offseason plans. After a while, Mel brings out a cake and everyone starts singing happy birthday. After singing, they take pictures of Nate with the cake, before pictures of different groups with Nate and the cake. After all the pictures are taken, Mel cuts the cake and serves a piece to everyone, even some of the kids. After the entire cake is cut and everyone has finished eating their pieces, you go to your office and take out a bag with Nate’s gifts in it, nervous to see what his reaction will be. You bring it out of the office and bring out to the open area where everybody is. Mel notices this and cues for everyone to be quiet and shuts the music down.

“What’s going on?” Nate asks in confusion, not understanding what’s going on.

“I got some special birthday gifts for you, but you need to close your eyes when you pull them out!” you smile, handing him the gift bag.

Nate shoots you a look of hesitation before opening the bag and taking out the paper. He pulls out the first item and hands it to you, before taking out a 2nd and 3rd item and handing them both to you. You arrange them nicely, so that he can see them clearly when he opens his eyes.

“Okay, you can open your eyes now,” you inform him, biting your lip nervously.

He opens his eyes and is immediately hit with a baby Avs jersey with his number on it that says Daddy in the back, as well as little Avs booties and your first ultrasound photo. His brows furrow in confusion at first before he puts two and two together and his mouth drops at the sudden realization that you’re pregnant.

“You’re pregnant? I’m gonna be a dad?” he asks hopefully.

“Yes, babe! I’m 10 weeks pregnant and I’m due in early April!” you smile, placing a hand down on your little bump.

“I love you so much!” he cries out, before kissing you and lifting you into his arms.

Everyone cheers and yells out their congratulations, with the WAGs already talking about planning the gender reveal party and the baby shower. Nate doesn’t keep his hands off your bump for the rest of the night and doesn’t shut up about how he can’t wait to meet the baby. The team, because they’re all competitive gambling bastards, place a wager on whether or not it’s a boy or girl, and secretly you want a mini Nate running around, even though you know he would be an amazing girl dad.

After a while, it gets late and everyone cleans up before heading home. Once everyone is gone, you guys shower and get ready for bed.

“When’s the next appointment, babe?” he asks you, as you crawl into bed to cuddle him.

“In two weeks for the first trimester screen. You’re gonna be able to hear our baby’s heartbeat for the first time,” you inform him.

“I can’t believe you were going through this all alone,” he sighs, feeling guilty that he was playing in the Edmonton bubble.

“I had Mel here with me and she was pretty awesome helping me out after every freakout and breakdown I had since finding out I’m pregnant,” you assure him.

“How long have you known?” he asks, the “without telling me” implied.

“I found out 5 days after you left. I had missed my period and was feeling like shit, so I bought a few tests and they all came out positive. So I freaked out and figured I’d wait til I saw you again in person to tell you,” you explain.

“I hate that I wasn’t here for you these last 6 weeks, but I’ll be by your side for the rest of this pregnancy, baby,” he assures you, kissing your forehead. “When do we get to find out the gender?”

“In 10 weeks during the mid-pregnancy ultrasound. It’s a 3D ultrasound that will show us every detail of the baby,” you explain to him, in between yawns.

He crawls down under the sheets and brings his face up to your little bump.

“Hey little one, I know you don’t know me yet, but I’m your daddy! I can’t wait to meet you little guy or girl! Your mommy and I make me so happy. I know I haven’t been here because I was busy trying to win the Stanley Cup, but I’m glad I didn’t. You’re already a million times better than winning the Cup,” he explains, leaving kisses on your bump.

You quickly wipe the tears from your eyes so he doesn’t see how emotional that made you. He’s right however. Finally starting a family is way better than winning the Stanley Cup. 

[kimberly-spirits13]

Batboys with Ambitious S/O HC:

Dick Grayson:

·      He met you one day while you were on the phone rushing to a meeting

·      Neither of you were paying attention

·      You bumped into each other and after apologizing and exchanging names cause both of you were both immediately like “hot damn” lol

·      Once you were finally out of your meeting, you saw that he had given you his number

·      It was dropped in his bag

·      Like Jesus you needed that trick with business cards or something

·      You texted him a few days later and he asked you out for a coffee

·      That was when he realized who he was dating

·      Your schedule was FULL and he understood that but like wow girl

·      Once you guys started dating he realized how dedicated you were with work

·      Was lo-key worried that you’d replace him with more work

·      You promised him, and yourself that you couldn’t do that

·      He’s really supportive

·      He is also always telling you to go tf to sleep

·      Doesn’t want you to end up like Bruce or Tim in that sense

·      Always there for moral support

·      Basically, like your personal cheerleader

·      The best person to go to when you get good news or even bad news but like

·      He goes nuts when you finally get where you’re going

·      Over all, a very supportive mother hen type, 10/10

Jason:

·      You guys had known each other before he died and were taken in together by Bruce

·      Needless to say, when Bruce found you and Jason, he had one wheel and you had the other

·      You guys had a great bond and he always knew you as the dreamer kind that always wanted more

·      You were so exciting to start school actually

·      You saw it as a step forward

·      Bruce knew about what you wanted to do because Jason would always talk about it

·      “Yeah Y/N wants to do *rambles for an hour*.”

·      Bruce wants the best for you and so he lets you do some more schooling first and then BOOM business is booming baby

·      Well sort of

·      I mean it obviously took a bit and then Jason died and that slowed things a TON

·      When Jay came back though, you were at the top

·      You hadn’t totally moved on from him at all and when he came back you were a mess for a few reasons

·      Took a vacation with him when schedule permitted

·      He doesn’t technically make you go to sleep

·      He just greatly encourages it

·      He is aggressively supportive

·      “Hell yeah Y/N, that’s my Gf/bf kicking the competition’s ass!”

·      “Jason, this is a formal event, don’t say that!”

·      “Sorry babe.”

·      You two are moved in together pretty much the moment he’s back

·      You two were best friends and always will be so yeah that was simple

Tim:

·      You wanted to make it big in the music industry

·      You’d come from a terrible position too

·      Grew up in Chicago with a very powerful family who was killed and went into an orphanage due to the mob

·      The moment you got out, you were making music

·      Good music too

·      You sky rocketed to the top of the charts

·      That’s when you started dating someone, got your heart broken and made a sad album and then after that a very independent kind of marching to the beat of your own drum album

·      He met you on the tour of that

·      You were his favorite singer and he related to you a lot

·      Met him as Red Robin when your hotel room got robbed in Gotham

·      He went to the next show to make sure you didn’t die or whatever and caught the bad guy sneaking on stage before taking him out

·      He got your number for that

·      After that you guys started dating and quickly you knew who Tim was

·      That’s when socials went W I L D when you posted a picture kissing his cheek

·      You dropped an album called “Lovely Little Mess” about catching feelings and whether or not it was a good thing or not

·      He goes to the studio with you and you have an apartment together

·      You’re both up late working whether it be you writing or planning out things

·      He helps pick album covers sometimes if you’re really stuck

·      Listening to new songs

·      He isn’t good with tour outfits or putting songs onto albums because he loves them all

·      Doing interviews together or always waiting for the other to get out of interviews

·      omg the pap LOSES it when you two go to events together

·      Actually, everyone loses it so yeah 🤷‍♀️

Damian:

·      You were class president of the grade you two were in at the time

·      You were the first student he met at Gotham Academy that he didn’t hate up front even if you didn’t catch that

·      You had to show him around the school

·      Came with curly, half up, half down hair, uniform pressed, and basically stood like a president or queen

·      He really expected you to be a pretentious snob but you were everything but

·      He noticed that even if you hated someone, you were still nice if they could give you a step up or anything really

·      “So, what else do you do L/N?” He asked as you two walked down one of the hallways when you were showing him around

·      “I’m not really a sports person, I have my own business about to start right now though.”

·      *shook*

·      “And are you class president because you want to be or is this also a step up?”

·      “You ask a lot of questions Wayne.” You laughed, “Actually I do like this position but it also helps me get more opportunities at GA. Even when other colleges come around, they like to look at the class officers.”

·      He started making sure he was outside when you would go on morning bike rides since you live in the same neighborhood that he does

·      Or close enough to bike at least

·      I mean, you saw that every successful business person has a good schedule so now you hold yourself to that especially during summer

·      Bike ride before 9 am, cold shower, breakfast, some reading for school, any summer school work if you get any, and basically just having a good day (This applies except for weekends)

·      He got to know you more and more and fell hard

·      You were the dreamer type and it was beautiful

·      You had this look in your eyes every time you’d talk about something you wanted

·      Genuine rare person and he loved that

·      You guys stay up late together but he does eventually make you go to sleep

·      Gets worried when you don’t

·      He thinks it’s incredible, the things you do on top of a busy as hell high school life

·      He likes to show that off about you a lot

·      “My beloved is class president, president of 4 different clubs, runs her own businesses, and she is an over -all genius and will probably take over the world.”

Duke:

·      Is very proud of you and tells you often

·      Basically, that very supportive best friend

·      He’s someone that you can just go to whenever you’re stressed or just need a quick break

·      Will always make sure that you’re okay even if it’s just ranting about work

·      Goes to everything with you

·      He also lets you network at galas and stuff and is there for moral support cause that crap gets annoying

·      Talks about you 24/7

·      If you two are working late, I stand by this that he’s either playing Lofi, Khalid, or just chill vibey music

·      He is overall the perfect breath of fresh air from everything that goes on in work life and just life in general

·      Whenever something works out you guys go to a cool coffee shop and celebrate

·      Or a date somewhere

·      He’s also always putting notes or music recommendations in your bag so you find them when you go to work

·      “I noticed you seemed nervous so listen to *song* today when you can.”

·      It’s always the perfect song btw

Luke:

·      Both of you are very smart and ambitious

·      You two are probably running something together

·      Both working late

·      Very competent people

·      Put together lives

·      Best planners

·      Everything

·      It’s couple goals whenever you’re around each other

·      Even when you’re not tbh

·      He loves that you’re a hard worker and are always aiming for the top like he is

·      Very supportive

·      You have a very mature but youthful relationship

·      I don’t think he could be with someone that was really lazy and didn’t do anything at all

·      You’re perfect

·      Probably planning to propose already

·      He just knows you’re the one

·      He introduces you to the Batfam after a while and his father approves of the relationship which is amazing

·      Tag team couple

·      If one of you is down the other automatically goes into pick up mode

·      It’s really nice just to have someone to help you bounce out if you burn out

·      He totally won’t judge you when it happens or you just want a break from running full speed

·      He totally gets it

I hope you guys are having a great day and have had a great week! I stayed up wayyyy to late last night but I was watching a Yale lecture, doing my wall stuff, and then I got an entrepreneur toolbox from Dave Ramsay and I was really excited to get into it so that happened. I’m also so ready to be off my woman issue time so that I can go on a bike riddeee. I miss being outside but I’ll probably go tomorrow, we’ll see. Anyways, I hope you’re all doing great

[jeromevalseka]

coming back from my hiatus to inflict a fic i wrote 2 years ago on all of you :) i found it while sorting through old wips and was like...huh, i may have been on to something..........

Jonathan was at Bruce's house because apparently that was something they were doing now. He didn't mind, not really, but—and he would never admit this, even on pain of death—he wasn't the best at making friends. Or keeping them. He usually just hung around with Jerome or Jervis, hiding out under the bleachers to smoke stolen Camels, perpetually trapped in a play-act of high school delinquency. Which was—whatever. He was beyond caring about things like that. 

Bruce Wayne, though—

Bruce Wayne wasn't the type of person that Jonathan would have ever imagined himself becoming friends with. Study partners. Co-dependent acquaintances. 

Jonathan was not the usual type of person to be swept into his orbit. They were not—and he could not emphasize this point enough—in similar social groups. On every level, except physical, they did not even exist in the same world. 

And that was fine.

Bruce surrounded himself with the Tommy Elliot’s and Silver St. Cloud’s of the world. Pretty, vapid things that probably considered visiting a trap house an adventure and drove to school in Tesla’s. (There was no probably about it, actually. Jonathan knew Silver St. Cloud drove a Tesla because earlier in the year she ran over his bike with her shitty, energy-efficient, crime against humanity of a car.)

Bruce got along with his teachers. He had a special handshake with Principal Essen. He was inevitably going to end up being Prom King when the time came. He was an honor-roll student with enough extracurriculars to make Jonathan's head spin and, as far as he could tell, he had enough admirers at his beck-and-call that there was no reason he had to stoop to inviting Jonathan over to his mega-mcmansion to watch a movie.

It wasn't like they hung out. They were partners on a chemistry project once, and their study session had quickly been derailed by an impromptu lesson in shotgunning—which was a completely normal and natural thing to happen. Like, sure. Maybe Jonathan had been a teensy bit curious as to whether straight-laced golden boy Bruce Wayne would actually smoke with him, and maybe he was in over his head before he’d even grabbed his zippo, but, c’mon. He was only human. 

It wasn’t like anything world-shaking had happened.

(He tried, valiantly, not to think about how cold Bruce’s hands had been or the weight of him sitting on his legs or the way he looked, breathing out smoke: eyes lidded, pupils blown. He tried, most of all, not to think about how soft his mouth was. It was a losing battle.) 

So, they'd been partners once. Months ago. And then, again, in Leob's English class when they had to write a paper together a few weeks after the chemistry project. And, okay, maybe Bruce had started smiling at him in the hallways as if that was something he was allowed to do. And, maybe, Bruce had started spending a few days out of each week hanging around in Jonathan's threadbare bedroom pretending like he was charmed; pretending like he couldn’t buy everything to Jonathan’s name three-times over with just his lunch money. 

They were friendly. That was all. 

(Only that didn't really feel right to him. Something about the idea of it—of them—being nothing but a series of stomach-twisting accidents make his mouth go dry and ashy. He wasn't superstitious. He’d long given up the urge to want things; long resigned himself to the kind of disappointment that blooms ugly and rotten, and sinks like a stone in a stomach; disappointment that clings and chafes and oozes open like a burst blister with each little hurt—but every moment he spent with Bruce—every eye roll and bumped knee and shared song—made his chest well up with—with wanting. Bruce Wayne made Jonathan want. He made him burn-up. He made him dream. It was terrible—pinpricks beneath his nails—it ate away at him. He hated it. He hated it, and—)

He broke out of his thoughts, then. Bruce had a way of catching his attention.

Case in point:

A throw pillow worth more than his college savings slammed into his cheek.

It lacked Bruce’s usual subtlety. When he turned, instinctively, towards the direction of the throw, he found Bruce already wrapped tightly in a garish orange-and-blue quilt, lounging on his sofa with the air of a world-weary prince. He was too much—Bruce was—in ever conceivable way, by every possible count. Looking at him set his teeth on edge. His fingers twitched, hidden by ratty sleeves. Little prince, little prince...

Jonathan moved to sit beside him. He swung the throw pillow at his head in retribution. He felt like he was having a sugar rush. 

Jonathan was never a fan of sweet things. He elbowed Bruce in the side: sharp, straight to the ribs. Jonathan was never a sweet thing, himself. 

Neither was Bruce. He reached out and yanked down on a clump of Jonathan’s hair. “Don’t be an asshole.”

“Don’t pull my hair,” Jonathan said, twisting away, aiming for Bruce’s ribs once again. Bruce let go, only to pinch at his cheek instead, pressing the skin hard between his thumb and forefinger. He hissed, “What are you? Five?”

“You’re such a baby,” Bruce said, letting go of his cheek, smoothing his thumb over the space he’d pinched. “An asshole baby.”

"Can't help what I am," Jonathan said, barely resisting the urge pass his thumb over the spot Bruce had just touched. "What’s the problem? You want me to change? Be nicer? That’s a slippery slope, you know. First, it’s don’t be an asshole, Jonny, then it’s cut your hair, Jonny; donate to the orphans, Jonny. Where does it end?”

Bruce kicked at his shin. “I’d hate to speak for every orphan, but I think most of us could care less about your charity.”

“You say that now—”

“And I’d never ask you to cut your hair. It suits you.”

They suddenly felt too close, sitting on the couch as they were. “Spend a lot of time thinking about what suits me, baby?”

"Ha,” Bruce said, his expression odd. ”I spend more time thinking about what doesn't, hotshot.” 

That wasn’t a denial. That was, probably, as close to the opposite of a denial as Bruce would give. Something rabbited nervously in his chest. "Well you can’t leave me hanging, now. You gotta tell me what else you like about me or I’ll think your just making shit up." 

"I like,” Bruce stressed the word, “to think back to when you were too nervous to be this annoying.” There wasn’t any real bite to it, but whatever strange, tenuous thing hung between them fizzled away. Jonathan couldn’t tell if he was disappointed or not. "Tommy's half-convinced that you're secretly mute, you know? You just—loom around without saying anything. And Ivy thinks that you’re the brains behind all the shit that Jerome stirs."

Jonathan hadn't known that Bruce and Ivy Pepper were close enough to warrant them gossiping about him. Though, to be fair, he also hadn’t known that Bruce was talking to people about him, at all. Which. Huh. Bruce was talking to people about him. His sugar rush came back, full force. He felt dizzy with it. 

"As if I could convince Jerome to do anything.” His mouth felt very dry. "Remember when he filled all of Strange's desk drawers with fish?"

Bruce made a face, but laughed anyways. "The lab room smelled like something died in it for weeks. You're telling me that wasn't your idea?"

"Disappointed?"

"Mm," he hummed, eyes crinkled up at the sides, looking cozy and warm and a world away. "Any chance you’ll give me Jerome’s number? Want to put a good word in for me?"

And there it was. So it went. Give and take. Push and pull. Push until the air fissured, pull until Bruce drew his line in the proverbial sand. Every time. 

Speech seemed to have suddenly fled him. He elbowed Bruce instead, hard enough for Bruce to roll his eyes and nudge his thigh with his foot, a lazy smile settling on his face.

"I'm kidding." He said, and his voice was warm. He shifted a bit in his cocoon of blankets so that his legs were suddenly in Jonathan’s lap and their shoulder’s were pressed against each other; Bruce a solid, warm line against him. His hair brushed over Jonathan’s cheek while he settled down, and if Jonathan moved his arm just so he could feel his heartbeat. This was the reason Jonathan kept wanting. This was the reason Bruce was too much—as a concept, as a person, as the sliver of whatever that he cast off to jab into Jonathan— 

 He felt as if he’d touched a live-wire, though he imagined that might have hurt less. Bruce was still talking, “I already have his number, anyways.”

“You want to date Jerome?” Jonathan asked, stomach turning inexplicably. 

Bruce choked, coughed, and then, in a hoarse, panicked voice, asked, “What? Date Jerome? No. What the—No. Just—no.” 

His teeth still hurt. His hands were shaking, hidden in his sleeves. He wished he was back home, wrapped in his own ratty comforter. He wished...Well. It didn’t matter what he wished, in the end. “Sorry for asking.”

He could feel Bruce staring at him, something doe-soft about the look his eyes, but he couldn’t face him—could only bear to keep him in his peripherals. “I don’t want to date Jerome,” he said, after a long moment, steady and firm. “I want...” He could see him wet his lips, take a breath, and continue, “I want to watch this movie. With you.”

"Good thing I'm here then," Jonathan said, something ugly welling up in his chest. He held it. He let it go. 

"Yeah," Bruce said, grabbing the remote with a frown. "Good thing." 

[goldandbluesmiles]

Bloody Courting

Summary: “There are two types of omegas that make it in our world and especially in Gotham. There are the ones like me that wrap Alphas, Betas and even other omegas around their finger, make them dance to their tune. You will not be that omega. You are too brash and forward to it. You will be the omega that goes ahead with the sheer force of will. They will respect you and if they do not, they will fear you,”

Jason had nodded, listening to him with rapt attention.

“And remember, if any of them think they are worth you, make them prove it no matter than their designation. Do not ever settle for less than what you want,”

These days he was really wishing that he hadn’t driven the last point very hard. Because really the dead bodies were getting a bit ridiculous.

Note: This is part 2. You can read part 1 here.

TW: Mention of death, blood and dead bodies. Nothing graphic. It’s Earth 3 so things are a little messed up/

Ao3

xxx

The crime syndicate usually left most of Gotham alone, content with the reports Owlman brought them.

The only time they interfered was when someone stepped out of line and it involved Gotham city.

And Lex Luthor had stepped out of line. The Queens and Waynes were the ones who usually handled Luthor's little shows of rebellion. So Arsenal was sent to Gotham to follow the rumours of Lex bringing supplies there. Usually, Talon would work with him. However, Talon was unavailable so the syndicate was looking to the other Wayne protege to partner up with the alpha.

"I hate it when they interfere with us," said Jason, "I could handle it myself,"

"The investigation was started by the Queens, Kiddo," Bruce told him, "And it could be worse, they could have sent one of the Lanterns or god forbid, the Kryptonians. Their egos are unbearable. Anyway, Roy's a good kid, about Dick's age. Loves murder and mayhem as much as you do. I think you might like him,"

"Hmm," was all Jason said

It was the calm before the storm.

xxx

A week into the investigation, Jason and he were having dinner when the subject of Roy Harper same up.

"I haven't really head from you since the whole situation started. How's it going?"

Jason grinned, "Pretty good. You were right, I do like him,"

Bruce tilted his head. Interesting.

It wasn't that Jason hadn't ever proclaimed to like someone before, platonic or otherwise. It was just that he had never said it like that.

A pretty smile on his face, eyes flitting everywhere and light pink ears.

Interesting.

Either way, Jason was an adult. He could handle his own affairs.

xxx

The bouquet of flowers was beautiful. Red roses, white lilies and pink orchids, all tied together by a black bow.

It was lovely, really.

Except that it was clutched in a severed hand.

An expertly cut and embalmed severed hand.

But it was a severed hand.

It had been a while since a gift like this had ended up on his doorstep but it could only be for one person.

Good thing he was here today.

"Jason!"

Jason came running out and grinned when he saw the bouquet.

"My favourites!"

"Who are they from?" Bruce asked

Jason checked the note attached to the small finger.

Wait-was he-was he blushing?

"They're from Roy,"

Oh yes, definitely blushing.

Roy didn't need favours. Roy wouldn't disregard the Queen/Wayne alliance for a night of fun. Roy had deliberately sent the flowers over to Bruce's place on a night that Jason was there.

Well shit.

xxx

Bruce and Jason had lived together long enough that even apart their heats synchronized. Bruce usually spent it with one of his Alphas and Jason spent it with whoever had given him a nice gift that month.

But this time both Talia or Selina was unavailable so Jason had come over.

Bruce had always loved heats spent with his little pup, inhaling his soothing scent of lemongrass and sweet tea. Right now Jason was cuddled into his side, nuzzling at his neck and letting out small purrs.

So adorable.

"Hey B," he said, bumping his head against his chin

"What is it, baby?" asked Bruce, running a hand through his hair.

"I think Roy wants to court me,"

"Oh?"

"And the syndicate wants to shut down Lex's whole side operation but you already know that,"

He did know that.

"And well, Roy's probably gonna end up staying here for a while since Gotham seems to be the base, Lex probably thought he could hide from Owlman,"

"Jason, point?" asked Bruce

Jason raised his head so Bruce could see his face.

"Roy. Courting. How do you feel about it?"

Oh. Wow. Okay. Jason was actually serious about the older alpha.

"I trust your judgement, kid,"

Jason flashed him his brilliant smile, "Okay!"

Bruce gently rubbed Jason's back as he snuggled down again.

Jason liked bloody gifts and a courting would entail many more of them.

But Bruce had put up with them for this long. He could do it for the duration of the courting.

How bad could it be? It's not like Jason even lived here anymore.

xxx

There was a dead body in his living room.

Bruce recognized the man. He had put a hit on him a few days ago. He would have loved to go after him himself but that's not what was expected of Bruce Wayne and Jason was busy. So, in his brother's and the Talon's absence he ha ordered a hit with a reward.

Usually, anybody who completed the hit would bring proof to an agreed-upon location and then would be given compensation.

This time the body was in his living room. And it was dripping blood.

And Roy Harper was standing over it. Kori right behind him.

"You know if that's for Jason, he's not here and probably wrong...subject,"

"Oh this is for you," said Roy

Oh. Bruce looked from the body to Roy to Kori.

"Sit down, please,"

Roy and Kori took the matching armchairs while Bruce took the love seat.

"I'm going to assume you somehow got access from Dick," said Bruce

"Yes," said Kori

"Explain this to me," he told Roy though he had an idea of where this was going. Some alphas liked to ask permission to court young omegas. Now Jason didn't need anyone's permission to do anything but Bruce could respect Roy's desire to deal with any possible issues.

"Well," said Roy, "As you know, Jason and I have become close while working together and I've been thinking of he was to give us a chance, we would make a good match,"

Bruce waited for the next bit but nothing came. Roy just sat there looking at him expectantly, an impassive look on his face. Kori looked a little like she was bracing for impact.

He took another look at the body, at the alpha in front of him and-

Oh.

Oh.

This Bitch.

This alpha had specifically gone hunting a man Bruce wanted dead.

This alpha had broken into Bruce's home with the body of a man Bruce wanted dead.

This alpha had brought Bruce's future daughter-in-law with him to break into Bruce's house with the body of a man Bruce wanted dead.

Roy wasn't asking permission. Roy was informing Bruce of his intentions.

In Bruce's house. With a dead body. And Bruce's oldest son's fiance.

God Damn. Bruce had to admit he was impressed.

Didn't mean he had to leave the alpha unscathed.

"You know Roy," said Bruce, "This reminds me of the time Talia courted me,"

"Oh?" said Roy, looking mildly surprised

Bruce smiled. Jason had obviously told him that his dad wasn't the mild-mannered omega the public thought he was.

"Well, on one of our dates she took me out on an outing," said Bruce, "You know, a late-night picnic, some stargazing, walking hand in hand in a field-"

Bruce paused and looked up.

"Some murder under the moon,"

The jerk Roy's body gave was positively amazing. Kori was starting to look amused, probably remembering the first time she and Bruce had had a similar conversation.

"At one point Talia sat down and just watched me slash people's throats. Said I looked pretty doing it. Though, I was also very young back then,"

Bruce gave the alpha a winning smile.

"What do you think Roy?" asked Bruce, "Would I still look good killing people with a blade?"

Rou gulped, "I'm sure Talia and Selina definitely think so,"

Bruce gave him a wide grin, one he had been told made him look manic.

"Good answer," he said, "Speaking of Selina, we once after this man that had dared to betray the Owlman. I still used to be a 'field agent' back then, if you know what I mean. Do you want to know what we did to him?"

"Did you kill him?" asked Kori

Oh, she was definitely amused.

"No. I personally consider killing someone as mercy," said Bruce, then looked at Roy, "Let's just say, he can no longer feed himself,"

"Oh," said Roy, starting to look a little green

"Ooh," said Bruce, sitting up as if excited, "This one time all three of us went after this woman who had seen something she wouldn't tell us about so to make an example of her we gouged her eyes out,"

Bruce gave another grin.

"With our fingers. Well," he said, waving his hand around a little, "My fingers,"

Roy nodded quickly

"Either way. We got off-topic. I think Courting is a lovely idea. Thank you for him. Could I interest you in something to drink?"

"No thank you, sir," said Roy, quickly getting up, "We should really be going,"

"Of course I understand," said Bruce, "I'll walk you out,"

Once the two had left, Bruce stayed by the door long enough to hear Roy screeching to Kori about not telling him how scary Bruce was.

Bruce chuckled and dialled a familiar number on his phone.

"Hi, Arrow. It's me. I think I might have traumatized your protege,"

xxx

Jason was in the den room. That itself wasn't an unusual occurrence.

The body packed in a plastic bag was.

At least this one wasn't dripping blood onto his floor.

"Jay, baby, what is that?"

"Oh, a dead body," said Jason, cheeky smile in place

Bruce snorted, "You know what I mean,"

"Roy gave it to me," said Jason, "It has art on it. Wanna see?"

Bruce sighed and went to sit by him, "Why not kiddo. Show me,"

Roy had used a blade to carve an intricate rose design into the skin. The carvings were deeper in some areas and barely there in others. They were also in crying shades of crimson. He would have to let the blood settle in some areas while carving some areas while the body was still fresh.

All in all, it looked like hard work.

"I'm guessing this is one of the people taking part in Lex's little operation,"

"Yup," said Jason, "Roy interrogated him and that did this. Amazing, right?"

Bruce chuckled and shook his head, "I really don't understand your interest in these courting presents,"

Jason just gave him an impish grin.

Bruce sighed gain and mentally braced himself.

This was only the beginning after all.

xxx

There was another dead body in the room.

And Jason was-uh-working on it.

"Jason, sweetheart," said Bruce, "Explain to me what you're doing,"

"Creating a gift for Roy," said Jason, "I mean who said that the alpha's the only one who has to give courting gifts, right?"

"Right," said Bruce, "And why are you doing this here?"

"Roy drops by my place too much, it would be better here. Also, it'll probably take a few days,"

Bruce refrained from asking what exactly the present was supposed to be or mentioning that Jason had numerous safe houses. Instead, he quickly went to his room and dialled two numbers.

"Oh hi Talia, Selina. You both picked up. Great! I need a vacation. Please take some pity on your dear, wonderful omega and take him on vacation. Yes-yes Selina. I am referring to myself in the third person! That is not the point!"

xxx

Vacation had been wonderful, filled with warm beaches, open skies and the two of his smallest pups.

They had dropped off Talia and Damian with the League and Selina and Helena had opted to also be dropped at their place instead of taking Bruce home. Which was great anyway. This way he had time to relax before-

"Uh, what are you doing?"

Jason and Roy instantly looked up from the dead body their hands were buried in.

"Oh, Hi dad," said Jason, I'd give you a hug but-uh,"

Roy had gone very very still.

"That doesn't answer my question," said Bruce

"I thought you were supposed to come home tomorrow," said Jason

"I was," said Bruce, crossing his arms.

Roy carefully took a step back.

"Sorry about this," said Jason, "We'll clean it up,"

"You better," said Bruce, "Also I think Tim is probably available. It's been too long since I've spoken to him. I'll go see him,"

"Yeah," said Jason, "Drake Holdings landed a pretty big deal while you were gone. He'll probably want to tell you about it,"

"Right," said Bruce, going backwards out of the house

Maybe he could stay somewhere else for a while.

xxx

"I mean I like a little blood and death as much as the next person but I like to keep it out of my house. Bloody life outside, inside I'm a normal rich person. These two keep bringing-hey! Are you even listening to me?! Timmy!

"You could just tell him to not bring his 'dead body' presents to your house, or at least the den and nest room,"

'...'

'...'

"How dare you?! I can't do that! It'll break his heart,"

'...'

'...'

"You're a mess, B,"

xxx

"Dad! Dad! look what Roy made me!"

Bruce took a deep breath and brace himself for another dead body in his den.

It-it wasn't a dead body.

It looked like a large snow globe.

Well not a snow globe, since it didn't have snow in it.

The globe was about the size of a human head. It seemed to be a part of Gotham, holding two figures standing over a third. Going by the uniforms, it was Arsenal and Red X, chopping off the head of someone.

"That's a gruesome scene," said Bruce

"It's the first outing we went on," said Jason, "But you haven't seen the best part,"

Jason twisted a key and the two figures started beating the first, there seemed to be an explosion in the background and line of-

"Is that real blood?" asked Bruce incredulously

"Yup, Roy installed a system in the bottom so it doesn't go stale," said Jason, "Amazing isn't it?"

Bruce had to admit, it was impressive.

"You really like him, don't you?" asked Bruce

"Yeah," said Jason, his voice suddenly shy and soft

Bruce smiled and kissed his forehead, "I'm glad. He better not hurt you though, otherwise, I'll be making a globe with his blood,"

Jason's laughter was like magic.

xxx

Jason had been quiet the whole day, mumbling when asked a question, barely speaking up and playing with his food.

It was when he was about to leave that Bruce finally brought it up.

"What's up with you, Jay?"

"Nothing," he muttered, pulling on his shoes

"Jay," said Bruce, gently taking his hand, "Talk to me,"

"The whole Lex thing is over and Roy is going back to Star," said Jason, "And I know we're good but at best we do long-distance and I just don't know if I can take that. I'll miss him,"

"I'm sure it'll be okay, Jay,"

"I'm not like you, dad," huffed Jason, "You don't see Tal and Sel for months at a time. I can't do that,"

Bruce sighed, "Have you talked to Roy about it?"

"We're doing that tonight," said Jason, "Kinda scared of the outcome,"

"It'll be fine," said Bruce, "And if not, you know where to find me,"

"Yeah," said Jason and opened the door. And stopped.

There was a body on their doorstep.

Tied up and obviously dead.

"Who's this," said Bruce, not even surprised at this point

"Traitor," said Jason, kneeling down and picking a note from the bodies' fingers.

"Your favourite stabbing place," read Jason

Bruce was about to ask what the hell was going on but Jason was already taking out a knife and slicing open the inside of the man's right thigh. He reached in and took out a clear plastic bag. Inside it was two keys.

"I'm guessing one's from Star and the other from Gotham,"

Jason smiled, "Yup,"

Bruce shook his head, "While I'm happy that your stress in elevated, couldn't he have sent them in some normal way,"

"You don't get it, dad," said Jason, "I never told Roy my favourite stabbing spot,"

Bruce had nothing to say to that.

xxx

Lex Luthor went quiet for about a year and then came back with an army of robots.

And since the Waynes and Queens had been in charge of subduing him in the first place, they were once again sent in. Since there was an army, everyone had gotten involved.

Bruce had even gotten both of his alphas to join in.

The battle took days but they had succeeded without any casualties on their side.

"Well," said Oliver, "This seems to be- oh you have got to be kidding me!"

Bruce followed the other omega's gaze and found Arsenal kneeling on the bloody ground in front of Red X. Bruce looked back at Oliver to see if he was upset but he only looked amused. Probably thinking the same thing as Bruce.

Why here?

"Well, at least Roy won't be sending me any more pictures of his courting 'presents'"

"Pictures," screeched Bruce, "You're mad at pictures! I had to put up with dead bodies in my house. Dead bodies with art, dead bodies with book quotes, severed hands, cut out hearts- don't even get me started on the intestines! And the blood!"

Oliver grimaced, "At least they seem happy,"

Bruce looked back to where Jason had now jumped into Roy's arms everyone around then cheering and applauding,"

"Yeah," murmured Bruce, "They're happy,"

xxx

The wedding was beautiful, both him and Oliver having pulled out all the stops for their boys. The suits were red instead of the traditional white. The theme set in the colour of the sunset. The wedding party was huge, composed of their siblings and the pack they had accumulated over the year.

Really, Bruce couldn't be prouder.

When it was time for the dance, the grooms first danced together and then their fathers and then their siblings. Eventually, Bruce ended up with Roy as his partner.

The young man grinned at him, "Hey Bruce,"

"Hello, Roy," said Bruce, "How are you feeling?"

"Right now," said Roy, "Kinda glad I can still feed myself,"

"Well, don't get comfortable. That can still be changed,"

Roy laughed as they changed partners again, having moved on from being afraid of Bruce's mere presence.

Later, both Oliver and Bruce were discussing the honeymoon with the newlyweds.

"I still don't know why you didn't let us pay," said Oliver

"Where are you going anyway," asked Bruce, "You never said,"

"Oh, Talia helped us plan it,"

Talia had good taste in vacation spots, maybe she recommended the beach resort at-

"We're taking a job for the League," said Jason, "In Paris. I mean we've mixed both things this long. Why change it?"

Before Bruce could say anything, someone else was pulling the two away for a picture.

"I'm seriously starting to reconsider our parenting of them," muttered Oliver

Bruce sighed and shrugged, "At least they're happy"

Olive smiled, "Yeah. Did I ever tell you how Roy became my protege?"

"You saw his talent, right?"

"Well, yes but there were a lot of alphas that wanted him considering he was one and I was an omega. But he refused to cooperate with anyone. He'd only work with me,"

"Loyalty," said Bruce

"Yup,"

The two omegas spent the rest of the time quietly talking about their perspective boys, laughing at their stories.

So what if the courting had been a little bloody, thought Bruce, their boys were happy. That's all that mattered.

Still, Bruce was glad they now had their own place and pack to show off their bloody presents.

His floor couldn't take much more. And he liked that floor.

[bonzhur]

"I have 4 brothers (one of them is younger and the two oldest are quite a lot older) so I was thinking maybe a Damian Wayne x reader (16+) where Damian and reader are secretly dating and Damian bumps in to the reader whilst they are both out with their siblings. Maybe a few of them know each other from school and they wanna hang out and Damian and the reader try and pretend they don’t know each other so their siblings don’t make a big deal about their relationship but maybe somehow they let it slip."

~♪~♪~♪~♪~♪~

Oh my gosh...

First off, I'm so sorry for not checking my asks, college and now this world wide issue. I'm so sorry!! *Bows* Please forgive me!!!

Second, I hope you can still enjoy this late reply, I'm really sorry ;-;

Guys, the keys for this story are these;

B1- Brother 1

B2- Brother 2

B3- Brother 3

Again, I am so sorry! P.S. details are lacking so I choose them for you... You'll see what mean later. Please enjoy this late reply, again, I'm so sorry!

~•~•~•~•~

I sighed as I sat on the mahogany bench, my sweat rolling down my skin as I tried to catch my breath.

"B1!"

The screech of my younger brother can probably be heard throughout the entire park, heck, maybe even Gotham. But I get how he's feeling, I'm ticked as well after all.

"What on earth gave you the great idea to drag me out of my bed to go jogging with you!" I turned my head to see B3 jabbing his finger at B1, who's just trying not to laugh. Yea, let's see that smug grin later when I beat ya for interrupting my sleep.

"What's wrong, lil bro?" B1 chuckled as he skipped a few feet away from him, holding his hands up in defense. "Not my fault you lack vitamin D and been hold up in your room with your video games, you and y/n both."

"Excuse you!" I immediately sat up and glare at my brother. "But my babies needed me, okay!"

A hand came suddenly and messed up my already bad bed hair. Not my fault B1 dragged me out of bed with no preparations, again whatever. I swatted the hand away, glaring at B2.

"Hey, I understand your struggle." He said with a look of understanding. "I bought you that switch with animal crossing remember."

I huffed and crossed my arms. Not my fault I got addicted to the game, not my fault it's one of the only games I can play with him.

A smile started forming on my face as I thought of him. Damian Wayne, son of billionaire Playboy Bruce Wayne, a student in Gotham High, and my absolutely hot boyfriend. Can't deny how toned and defined his body is~ And that ass is mine, so back off bishes! If only I can say that...

You see Damian may be my boyfriend, but we're in a secret relationship. Yea, sucks to be me alright. I do understand where he's coming from though. It's not about his image (he'd throw that away cuz he don't care) and definitely not his family, though he's adamant that I can't meet them yet (something about them never ending teasing and him not trusting they can keep a secret, also the fact that he wants to know how long it takes for them to figure it out). It's about me.

In Gotham High, I'm just a lucky smart kid, who got a scholarship. No one really pays attention to me, especially since there's more interesting people. So finding out a normal person like me is his girlfriend, let's just say it wouldn't end well. His fans would bully me relentlessly, people would assume I'm a gold digger or just a hoe. The rumours, the lies, the fights, the many ways this can go from great to worst. It's not the best situation to be, especially when Damian isn't always there to be by my side. Anything can happen and that anything scares both of us.

I groan as I quickly fixed up my hair into a high pony. It's bad enough that Damian doesn't go easy on me during training and now my big bro wants me to exercise in my rest day, not cool.

"let's just get this over with." I stood up, glaring at B1 as he innocently whistles. "I have a date with my bed and switch after this."

"So you're cheating on Pizza? With bed and switch? That's harsh." B2 cried as he clenched his hand over his chest, like the drama queen that he is.

"Maybe I should take Pizza out on a date later? Seeing as you're busy." B1 joked, fixing his black tank top like it was a suit.

"ha ha, very funny you two." Rolling my e/c eyes, I crossed my arms and walked towards them. "Now can we please just go?"

"fine, as soon as B3 stops complaining." B1 chuckled, causing me to sigh.

"I swear you three are making me loo-" All of a sudden, I felt someone bump into me and like dramatic girl, I nearly fell. But thankfully the culprit grabbed my wrist, saving me from the fall. I turn to the next victim on my list and was met with the mesmerizing green eyes of my surprised boyfriend. Shock dawned on my expression as I could only whisper. "Dami?"

"Habibti." Damian whispered back, I assume getting lost in my e/c eyes as well. Or maybe it was my sports outfit, who knows.

He pulled me up to stand and I was about to say something when I heard my brother called for me in the background. This snapped me back to reality and away from the Dreamland of Damian's eyes, pulling my hand back and stepping away from him. He did the same, now definitely looking at my outfit.

Now remember how B1 dragged me to the park for a jog. Well, it's extremely hot today and I'm not about to get out in the burning sun without a proper outfit. I.E. shorts, a tank top, running shoes, and my Batfam cap (a humor gift from B3. jokes on him, I love this hat). Now seeing how Damian is looking at my outfit, I can already tell what he's thinking, he's look at me with lust and want after all. Sweet Lord, if you're there. Please say me from this predicament I'm in. I want to walk please!

"Yo Dick, how ya been?" The voice of B1, surprised me as I turn to them. Eyes widening when I realized that Damian was with his brothers and sister. I think it dawned on Damian too, because now he moved more away from me. Sad but hey, secret relationship after all.

"Nothing much B1." Dick Grayson turned to me, eyes holding a flirtious glint when he saw me. "This your younger sister? Y/n?" He asked naturally, not like he ate me up with his eyes.

"Yea, she is." B1 said, like the confused idiot that he is. "Y/n, this is one of my old friends, Dick."

"Hi..." That's my poor attempt at interacting with people, brought to you by Social Anxiety and Depression!

"Name's Dick Grayson, this is my sister, Cass. My brothers, Jason, Tim, and Damian, who I think you met."

"Don't fool around, Grayson." Damian interrupted him. "I don't even know her."

"But you guys had a connection! Don't deny it!" Dick defended, while Cass giggled and Jason smirked at this, knowing a fight is near. Tim just went and laid on the bench, within seconds, he's asleep. Dude, the fu-

"Okay! Break it off." B2 said, pushing Dick away from Damian. "Me and my siblings have to go and finish our jog."

"oh, us too." Jason piped up. "Mind if we joined?"

"Sure, why not." B1 said instantly.

"wait, what?" Says my confused brain.

So during the jog, they explained how they knew each other, Jason to B2 and Dick to B1. Being from the same school and all that stuff, having a little fun reunion. Cass and B3 are watching Tim, who is barely awake but jogging too. I'm both amazing and confused at the same time. As for me and Damian, well..

We decided to jog the slowest, being at the back where none of them can see us or barely hear us. You can imagine how Damian teased me about my outfit and how after he's done with me, I can't stand for a week. Add some 'accidental' touching here and there, maybe a peck or two in secret. I'm actually surprised no one saw or questioned us.

Yea, that's how I felt until the end. Where Tim and B3 basically almost threw up because me and Damian are being too lovey dovey in the back.

"WHAT!"

Oh the chaos, how both B1 and Dick were celebrating about their siblings having a significant other, how B2 and Jason had a talk with each other about what to do if one of us broke the other's heart, and Cass being a sweet girl and congratulating us. She's the best.

At first, we tried to deny it, it's not like that, etc, etc. Then Tim pointed out that Damian called me Habibti, which we both, again, tried to deny it. Until Dick kabedons me and Damian attacked him. So now, they know that we're dating... Great.

Atleast now I can go to his house and be with him without fearing if his siblings see. Let me tell you, it was hella alot more fun than before.

~•~•~•~

First off, again I'm so sorry. Second, I literally typed this for an hour and a half. I need sleep.. Not my best work, please forgive me at that. It's been years or months since I last made a one shot and it's obvious in the fic, Atleast to me.

Thanks for reading this late reply post!

[excuseme-howdareyou]

So you wanted Birthday prompts right? Jason sneaking Baby Damian out of the League compound for the day to celebrate his Birthday like an actual child for once. Maybe he gets to try ice cream or see a play or go to an art museum and just fldraw or something.

Stephanie Brown was the loudest and the most obnoxious singer, Damian decided, and made a face when she sang purposefully out of tune. "Happy birthday  to you~!" she crowed and gave Drake a big, fat obnoxious kiss on the cheek.

On Drake's other side, Cassandra Cain smiled and plopped a cake down on the table. It was hardly bakery store worthy, with frosting slathered on in a heap of sugary chaos and the words 'Happy Birthday' piped onto it in the most atrocious handwriting. But Drake beamed at it like it was an award winning confection.

"Make a wish, birthday boy!" Steph demanded, as if it were her birthday and not someone else’s. Damian rolled his eyes at her demanding tone, but for once kept his mouth shut when Tim did just that.

"What'd you wish for?" Cassandra asked, head tilted.

Stephanie, dramatic as usual, gasped in horror," He can't tell you! Then it won't come true!"

This time, Damian could not contain his snort of derision. "Such an idiotic superstition," he mocked," Telling someone your wish -which is stupid by itself- won't affect the likelihood of it happening or not."

Steph's gasp of horror turned into one of betrayal. "You take that back," she pouted," A birthday wish is a sacred and magical thing."

"As much as I hate to agree with the Demon Brat," Drake hummed, low and thoughtful," He's got a point. Telling somebody doesn't change the odds of it happening."

"Heathens, the both of you!" she threw up her hands. One of her fingers pointed at Drake," You're just a heathen in general." Then her other hand pointed a purple painted and glittered nail at Damian," And I bet you're just sour because you've never made a birthday wish on a birthday cake since you don't celebrate your birthday."

It was true, sort of. Damian Wayne didn't know what day he was born, and he didn't really celebrate it. But...

"I've had a birthday cake once," he murmured.

Instantly, four pairs of eyes turned to him, curious and demanding. He didn't answer their silent question, but instead played with the lighter in his hand. It had been years ago, and he hadn't told anyone, not even Mother. And the only other person who knew... didn't remember...

Nanda Parbat 7 years ago, 2013

Damian al-Ghul was seven, and he still had a babysitter.

Actually, babysitter was too generous a word. Damian had a shadow. If anything, he was the babysitter, as he was the only one of the two capable of making decisions. The older boy, with his blank eyes partially hidden by shaggy dark hair, followed Damian around wherever he went. At first, he'd hated it, believing this stranger to have no part in their home with this expressionless face and nameless existence. Mother had quickly disavowed him of that notion. "He is your brother now," she actually told him, and after that there was no arguing with her.

(He'd also learned really quick that J wasn't as useless as he seemed. Out of anger one day after being followed for five hours on end, Damian once attempted to punch his new 'brother'. Instead, he found himself thrown onto his back, and then J just... stood there. As if he hadn't just body slammed a 7 year old out of pure instinct)

So now here they were, for while Damian could slip past his retinue of 'babysitters', he never really managed to lose J no matter how hard he tried. It was annoying, is what it was. But J was quiet, and he never said a word, so Damian graciously elected to keep an eye on Mother's pet project until he decided to return to the palace. For now, he was intent on wandering the market and explore since Mother and Grandfather usually never let him leave the palace unless it was for a training session.

The market was... new. There were so many new smells and sounds, and so many people. After Damian broke a man's pinky finger, the crowd of people quickly learned not to bump into him so much. It had been fun to watch J throw another person through a stall when the individual tried to grab his arm. Damian had no clue what had been going through J's mind when he did it, but he hardly broke stride as he grabbed the assaulter's arm and flipped him over onto the counter full of apples. The next second, he was right back by Damian's side, silent and blank as ever.

'He would make a decent bodyguard,' he had to admit. If only they could get past J's inability to actually think, and to be more proactive instead of reactive. But that was Mother's problem, not his.

So despite all the roughhousing, or maybe because of it, Damian was having a good time. No training, no fear of failure, no Grandfather looming over him with a sword, just him and J wandering the market and minding their own business. At one point, Damian paused when he smelled something delicious. There was a stall of small sweets, stacked higher than him and in all sorts of colors.

J stopped in front of a towering pile of burfi.

Usually, J had no manners whatsoever and just ate whenever he was hungry. It didnt matter what or who was in the vicinity, if he was hungry and there was food, he ate it. As he appeared to be gazing at the burfi with startling intensity, Damian wondered if this would be one of those moments.

Aaaaaand sure enough, there it was. He almost sighed at the predicability as J reached out and grabbed the chocolate burfi sitting on top. Before the stall owner could throw a fit, Damian tossed payment onto the counter before grabbing a mango flavored one for himself. He took a bite -not bad- and thought about looking for any weapons stalls out here when he noticed J hadn't eaten his burfi yet.

Odd. Usually it was next to impossible to stop J from eating whatever was in his hands.

Damian took another bite of his burfi and eyed the taller boy, silently wondering what he would do. And then... J did the oddest thing.

Still with that blank look in his eyes, J reached out back towards the stall counter. Instead of grabbing more food though, he plucked a stick of incense from the burner sitting there. Still smoking and smelling strongly of cardamom, the incense then found itself stuck non-burning side down right in the middle of the chocolate burfi in J's hand.

Then he held it out to Damian.

And he was humming.

Gotham City July 2020

At the time, Damian hadn't known what song J had been humming. Hell, at the time, he hadn't even really known who J was. All he remembered about that day was how he'd never heard J make a sound, both before and after, and to Damian it felt... special. It wasn't J following him around everywhere. It wasn't Mother telling him that they were brothers now. No, it was in a crowded stinking marketplace where J made his first comprehensive sound, a nameless little tune, that Damian felt that maybe this whole J sticking around thing wasn't so bad.

He never told Mother what had happened in the marketplace (other than the commoners that harassed them) nor that he heard J humming a song while giving him a sweet cake with a stick of incense sticking out of it.

It wasn't until years later, when he came to Gotham, when Dick Grayson sat him down and stuck a cake in his face with 11 candles on top, that he heard the tune again. Grayson hadn't been expecting him to attempt to twist his arm behind his back, but had laughed when Damian loudly demanded to know what that song was and what's with the cake.

It wasn't until years later that Damian fully realized what had happened that day.

And he still never told anyone.

"Grayson tried to sing me the birthday song once," he lied to Drake, Brown, and Cain," I smashed the cake in his face."

[tiptapricot]

Okay uhhhh fanfic request. Batman Beyond where Terry ends up getting a Robin, (either Miguel from the episode Unmask, or Dak from Where’s Terry) and Matt finds out, that a) his big brother is Batman, and b) Terry got ‘some random kid’ to be Robin and not him, his own little brother.

Thanks for the request anon! You can find this on AO3 here. Enjoy!

Matt was home alone when it happened. Terry had gone out to run errands for Mr. Wayne and their mom had gone shopping for dinner. It wasn’t anything unusual. The same exact thing happened every few weeks. Matt had the TV to keep him occupied and there were snacks in the fridge if he wanted anything. The evening had been going as per usual, and Matt had even managed to dig out one of the boxes of Valentine's chocolates Terry never ate, when he had heard something from down the hall. He had turned down the volume of the TV and gotten up, walking as slowly and quietly as he could towards the sound. 

His mom had always told him to be careful of intruders. They had good locks on their windows and doors, but like she always said, you could never be too careful in Gotham.

As Matt got closer, he realized the sound was voices, two of them, coming from Terry’s room. Of course, his first thought was that Terry had snuck Dana into the house, and he was getting ready to throw open the door and tease them, when he realized that the second voice didn’t sound like Dana at all, it sounded like a little boy.

“You can’t just follow me home! How am I gonna explain this to my folks?”

“I wanted to see where you live. It’s been almost two months now and what do I get? Your name. I don’t even get to see your face, and it’s really starting to get on my nerves. You know how much a name means in Gotham? Nothing! There are like, what, a million Terrys? And what kind of lame name is ‘Terry’ anyways? I mean you can’t blame me for—”

 “Okay, okay, you can come over for a bit, but as soon as my mom and brother get home you leave, okay?”

“Yeah, whatever.”

There was a slight shuffling sound, and a bump that sounded like someone falling over, before the voices picked up again.

“This is your room?”

“Yeah, yeah it is.”

“It’s lame. Do you not like pictures or something?”

“I don’t exactly spend a lot of time in here you know?”

“So do I get to see your face now or what?”

Matt pressed his ear closer to the door. What on earth was going on?

“Only if you promise not to make my life hell if you see me in public.”

“Hey! You know me. I don’t snitch.”

“Fine. There, happy?”

The kid laughed.

“You’re just as lame as your name. You look like one of the pretty boy biker kids in my neighborhood.”

“Gee, thanks. Now remember what I said, my mom and Matt are out shopping right now but they should be back soon. The second the car rolls up you’re right back out that window. Understand?”

“I’m not some dumb kid, man, I know what I’m doing.”

“Right, because you totally knew what you were doing when those dregs beat your ass tod—”

Matt almost fell over when the door opened in front of him. He stumbled and jumped back, eyes wide as he came face to face with a great, big bat symbol.

“Holy…” he breathed. 

“Matt?” Terry’s eyes went wide. “What are you doing here? Didn’t you go out with mom?”

He couldn’t… Terry couldn’t be Batman. Batman was strong and schway, like the schwayest hero ever, and Terry… Terry was just his lame older brother. He wasn’t special, he was a huge jerk if anything. A boring guy who never made time to spend with his family. Because he can’t. Because he’s Batman. He’s standing right there, he’s wearing the suit, he’s Batman. 

Matt took a step back, then two more. Terry followed, still trying to come up with an explanation.

“I— it’s not what it looks like I swear it’s just a, it’s a…It’s a school project! One of my friends made this for me and I was just… I was just trying it on!”

“What’s goin’ on Terry?” The other voice came from inside the room and the kid himself followed.

Robin.

It had been a media sensation when Robin had first been sighted a few months before. Matt had gotten all the toys that had burst onto the shelves. Robin had quickly become his hero, almost more than Batman was. He loved to tell his mom “He’s my age! I could be a hero like him, just watch!” And now here the kid was, standing in the middle of his brother’s room like it was the most normal thing in the world. He was a bit taller than Matt, and he’d pulled back his mask to reveal a round faced kid with dark eyebrows and a permanent smirk.

“Woah…” Matt looked between the two of them. Batman. Robin. Terry. Robin. Terry. Some random kid.

“You’re Batman?!” He didn’t mean to yell. He also didn’t mean to trip over himself as he ran for the living room. Some kind of trick, it had to be. Maybe Spellbinder, or some new villain that messed up what you saw.

“Woah woah woah, hey Twip, where’re you going?!” A pair of smooth black arms wrapped around Matt’s stomach, hoisting him up into the air. The texture felt so wrong. It was soft, almost like skin, but it was too smooth, too cold, too firm.

“Let me go!” He tried to wriggle free but the arms were too strong. Too strong to be human.

Definitely Spellbinder. Or something worse.

“I said let go!” Matt twisted around and hit Not-Terry as hard as he could. Not-Terry let go of him with a grunt of “What the hell Mattie?” And then Matt was running for the door again.

It wasn’t Terry. It wasn’t Batman. It was something, someone, who had broken into their house or was making him see things or…

“Hey bud, can you please look at me?”

“No.” Matt tried to open the door but it was locked. His mom must’ve locked it when she left. He didn’t turn around, he just pressed his face into the door and crossed his arms.

The voice, the voice that sounded so very much like Terry, but that couldn’t be Terry, laughed.

“What are you doing Mattie?”

“You’re not Batman. You’re not Terry.”

“Oh bud. I wanted to tell you. Could you turn around, just for a second, and let me explain?”

Matt pressed his forehead even harder into the metal of the door, counting to ten.

One.

It wasn’t Batman because Terry wasn’t Batman.

Two.

Terry wasn’t Batman because Batman was a hero.

Three.

Terry wasn’t a hero, not really.

Four.

He made Matt laugh and he hugged him a lot, but he always left.

Five.

Just like dad.

Six.

Dad left and Terry came back into his life like he hadn’t been gone for nearly three years.

Seven.

Terry never had fun, he was too tired and too serious.

Eight.

He didn’t want to do things with Matt, even though he wasn’t that much older than him.

Nine.

Terry wasn’t schway or strong, he couldn’t do cool flips or fly a jet or beat up bad guys.

Ten.

So Terry wasn’t Batman, and the person behind him wasn’t Terry.

So who was he?

“Mattie, please?”

“Your brother’s acting like a big baby.” Anger flared in Matt’s chest.

“I am not!” He spun around without a second thought.

The kid, the kid that looked like Robin but wasn’t Robin, just smiled.

“Not now Dak.” Not-Terry hissed. He looked back and met Matt’s eyes. It was a look he’d seen a few times, like when he’d come home after Batman had saved him from Stalker, or after Matt had scraped his knee at Cheesy Dan’s. It was the look that Terry gave him that was soft and worried and… and Not-Terry looked so much like Terry.

“You… you are Batman.” Matt’s eyes widened, then went wider, his fingers reaching out to touch the red of the symbol covering his brother’s, his actual brother’s, chest.

“I didn’t think I’d have to tell you like this, and I definitely didn’t expect you to run.”

Matt was speechless. He guessed he finally understood what people meant when they said the word starstruck.

It wasn’t an illusion. Terry, Terry his brother, was Batman.

“Schway.” he whispered.

“Are you done freaking out now? I tell you, none of my friends would react like that. That was real weird.”

Terry glared at the kid. What had he called him? Dak? What kind of name was that anyway?

“Listen, I guess I better go. See you when something interesting happens and we can kick some butt. Thanks for finally letting me see your face by the way.”

Dak pulled his mask over his eyes and walked back into Terry’s room. Matt heard the click of the window lock and a whoosh of air and then there was silence.

“So… I guess we need to talk.”

***

Terry got a call when he was changing in his room. He was trying to talk quietly but Matt heard him loud and clear.

“Yeah I know, but some stuff came up okay? Tell the commish I’ll be there in half an hour or something.”

“...”

“No it can’t wait.”

“...”

“Uh… Mattie found out.”

“...”

“Yeah I know but I can’t erase his memory or anything! He saw what he saw and now we have to deal with it!”

“...”

“Yeah I’m gonna talk with him right now. Right. See you later.”

Terry came out of his room a few minutes later dressed in his normal clothes. He was carrying the batsuit, folded up nice and neat in a little square with the cowl pinched between his fingers.

The shock still hadn’t fully worn off, and it was still weird to see the costume sitting in his brother’s lap when he joined Matt on the couch, but at the same time, Matt was excited. He was talking to Batman for Pete’s sake.

“What’s it like to fight bad guys? How did you become Batman? Can you show me any moves?” It all tumbled out like a dam breaking.

“Alright Twip, calm down.” Terry was smiling, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Before anything you gotta promise me you won’t tell Mom about this, okay?”

“Yeah yeah, whatever.”

“Or any of your friends.”

“Okay okay I get it!” Matt reached over to feel the suit again. It was still that weird texture, almost like silk skin.

“Alright then. What do you want to know? One question at a time.”

Matt opened his mouth but paused for a moment, thinking. He wanted to ask a lot of things but… there was one question he had to ask.

“Is this why you’re always gone?”

Terry blinked owlishly.

“I—uh yeah it’s a pretty time consuming job bud.”

Right. Batman had to fight bad guys and Gotham had a lot of bad guys. Still…

“Mom wishes you were home more y’know. I’ve heard her talk to her friends about it.” He tried to be casual about it, staring intently at the red and black material of the suit. That was all he could really focus on, it was weird to look Terry in the eyes.

He heard his brother sigh and felt him lean back into the couch cushions.

“Yeah I know. I’m working on that. You’ve been a real help, I’ve heard her talk about that too.”

“You’ve been gone even more recently, I think she’s starting to worry. Is it some big thing? Like when the Joker came back last year?”

“No, no, I’ve just been busy training Dak. He’s the new Robin, that kid that was with me just now.”

“Yeah Terry, I know. I’m not blind.” Matt picked a piece of dust off the suit.

“Oh… right.”

“How hard can it be though?”

“You mean besides the fact that he never listens and my boss has us training almost 24/7?”

“I’d listen. I bet I could be a great Robin.”

“Sure bud.” The way Terry said it was so off handed, almost joking.

Matt felt his face heat up, the anger from before resurfacing.

“I could! And you know me already! He’s just some random kid!”

“Woah hey. I’m not saying you wouldn’t be a good hero, but Dak needed Robin, just like I needed Batman.” Terry was using the calm voice, the one he used to get Matt to listen or do what he wanted, but it wasn’t going to work this time.

“How? How did he need Robin?”

Terry sighed again, pushing the hair out of his eyes.

“That’s a big question bud. It’s a long story. Dak helped me out of a sticky situation a while back. I didn’t see him for a long time, and then a few months ago I was beating up a gang and he stopped one of the guys from hitting me with a pipe. He got knocked out though, so I tried to bring him home. Turns out his folks died in a house fire while he was at school. My boss knows a thing or two about that kind of stuff, and told me it might be a good idea to take him on. I was the hesitant one at first, if you can imagine, but in the end it was the best option. He’s with a foster family now, and he works with me as Robin on the side. If I hadn’t given him that… who knows where he’d be now.”

Matt was mistaken. The excitement he’d felt earlier had just been anger.

“But what about me? I lost someone too, I lost Dad! Why don’t I need Robin? Why is he so special? Why didn’t you ask me?” Feelings were hard sometimes. Sometimes they were big, too big, for Matt to handle. He was standing before he knew it, his feet sinking into the cushions, his finger pointing accusingly at Terry.

“Oh Mattie it’s not like that.”

“Yeah? Then what is it like? You chose some street kid who you barely know over me!”

“Matt—”

“I need help too! You think it’s been easy? Everyone’s already moved on but I haven’t! I still miss Dad and I—” he didn’t mean to start crying, “and I—I… I can’t remember his face that well anymore, Terry. I can’t rem—remember what he looked like.” A hiccup interrupted the sentence, sounding much closer to a sob than he wanted it too.

“Oh bud I’m sorry.” Terry pulled him into a hug and Matt heard a dull thump as the costume slid onto the floor. Terry’s arms were solid and warm, his fingers combing comfortingly through Matt’s hair.

How did feelings just do that? How did they change so fast? From so big to so small, so angry to so sad? Matt pressed his fists against Terry’s chest and cried harder, his voice wobbling and cracking and shaking like a bowl of jello.

“Hey, I’m here. I’m sorry I haven’t been, and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, but I’m here now, Mattie, okay?”

Matt nodded into Terry’s shirt.

“I love you bud.” Terry said, pressing a kiss to the crown of his head.

They sat like that for a few minutes, Matt’s sobs slowly quieting, the tears drying in sticky tracks down his face. Terry didn’t move, he continued to hold Matt tight and rub his shoulders, and they just sat like that.

“Can I… can I be Robin someday?” Matt finally asked. “I think I need it too.”

He could feel Terry smile against his hair. “We’ll see. I don’t want you getting hurt, and Robin’s taken right now, but maybe you can be someone else, okay?”

Matt looked up at Terry and smiled.

“Okay.”

Terry gave him another kiss on the forehead and got up. He stretched, groaning, and made his way to the kitchen. “I have a thing I need to get to. Wanna come with?”

“What kind of thing?” Matt scrubbed at the tears on his cheeks, wiping his hands on the couch cushions. 

“Hero stuff. It’s about a case but it’s nothing major.” Terry started rummaging in one of the drawers.

“What about mom? We can’t just leave.” 

“I’ll leave a note, say I’m taking you to Cheesy Dan’s for a bit or something.”

“Okay.”

Terry paused when he pulled out the sticky notes.

“Hey Matt?”

“Yeah?”

“You know you’ll always be more important than any Batman business right?”

Matt stared. 

He stared at his brother, still tall, maybe a bit less lanky than he’d been before, more muscle, his hair falling thick and dark in front of his eyes. He stared at that dimple on his chin that Matt had always wanted, and he realized that it was the same brother he’d always had. 

He stared at Batman, the hero who was standing in his kitchen, who had saved people countless times on TV, who had saved him more than he could count. He stared at the way Terry held himself, just a bit differently than he remembered, at the way his eyes looked tired but aware, and the bruise that was becoming more visible on his jaw. He stared and he realized that Terry was Batman. He stared and he realized things weren’t the same, and maybe they hadn’t been for a long, long time.

He stared and he thought about those words. He thought about the boy in the Robin costume who was not him and who needed the suit. He thought about how he didn’t understand his feelings, and about how things were confusing and he didn’t know if they would ever stop being that way.

“Yeah. Yeah I know.” He said after a moment. And he meant it. 

Sometimes things were simple, sometimes they weren’t. Sometimes people were there, sometimes they weren’t. Sometimes Matt was alone and sometimes Terry was dragging him into a clean limousine and driving him to a big house and dragging him down a secret passage and introducing him to a legacy.

Sometimes there was Batman, and sometimes there was Terry.

And that was okay.

And Matt was okay.

[awhitehead17]

Meddling Kids

Dick & Jason, Dick & Tim, Secret Agents AU, Humour, Assassins, Fights, Oblivious Dick, Jason loves bread, Sassy Tim.

Summary: With little information to go on, Dick and Jason are sent on a mission to grab some files before they fall into the wrong hands. It doesn't help that the mysterious persona 'Red Robin', is rumoured to be after the same files. What is clear is that they need to grab those files first.

A/N: This is done for ‘AU: Secret Agents’ on my Batfam Bingo 2019 Card. 

Also on AO3

Enjoy! :D

“I hate these things.”

“You hate a lot of things.”

“Well... yeah, but these monkey suits are definitely near the top of that list. They’re fucking awful.”

Dick sends Jason a glance as he puts his jacket on. He didn’t mind them as much, yeah they weren’t the comfiest things in the world but they make him look great so he’ll take that as a win. He watches as his brother puts his own jacket on and straightens it out. Dick smirks, “Well you do brush up nicely Jace, doesn’t that matter?”

Jason responds with a glare, “Oh go suck a dick.” 

The two of them go about finishing to get ready for the night ahead of them in their shared apartment. Once they were both done and everything was sorted they exit their home and make their way down to the shiny sleek black limousine waiting for them outside.

They climb in and settle at the back of the car, allowing the trusty driver to take them where they need to be without worry of interruptions.

“So what’s the plan again? And why the hell is the old man making us do this when he could easily do it himself?” Jason questions with annoyance.

Dick sighs before telling him, “To most, we’re going to the charity gala to make up for our adoptive father’s absence as he’s busy in Japan doing business. Then to the odd few, we’re actually going under cover because there are rumours of files being passed around at this very gala. Our mission is to try and infiltrate these files to stop them getting in the wrong hands.”

“Right,” Jason drawls out. “And we don’t know what’s in these files as well as not knowing whom is after them?”

Dick’s reluctant to answer because he’s knows what’s coming, knows what Jason’s reaction is going to be. “No…”

“Fucking unbelievable! This is why I question working with him, he doesn’t even trust us with the information we need to complete the mission! How the fuck are we supposed to do it huh? We don’t know what the files are, who even has the files to start with and who wants the goddamn files!”

Rubbing a hand across his head Dick sighs, “I know Jason, I know, but it is what it is. It’s a do as your told and don’t ask questions situation.”

Jason glares at him, “It’s stupid.”

Dick doesn’t comment again, knowing that his brother is right. Working as secret agents for their adoptive father is a challenge in itself, especially when they all butt heads and have different opinions on the matter. It’s especially challenging when Bruce doesn’t give them any information regarding the mission he’s sent them on, Dick can see why Jason is annoyed, however there isn’t anything he can do about it.

That’s when he remembers something else to do with this mission. “Oh also I heard that there are rumours about Red Robin being at this gala as well, even potentially after the same files we are.”

Jason’s glare turns into a surprised expression. “Oh? That’s great and all but we don’t know who Red Robin is! All we know about Red Robin is that they’ve been bugging both Bruce and Barbara for over two years, Bruce because he can’t work out who it is and Barbara because they constantly hack her network and pass all of her firewalls.”

Dick couldn’t help but snicker because he’s not wrong. This mysterious ‘Red Robin’ character appeared two years ago, at first they were completely paranoid of whoever this is because they appear to have extreme knowledge of technology, they appeared to be a brilliant detective and tactician.

Over time, while they never fully trusted Red Robin, they’ve come to accept them. It seems like they never mean any harm as they never do any damage to their systems or never seem to get up to anything along the lines of evil.

What makes the situation difficult is that they don’t know who ‘Red Robin’ is. Of course they’ve tried to work it out, tried to find out who this detective that can hack into one of the most secured systems on the planet is. That’s where he annoys Bruce, the top agent, Dick’s and Jason’s boss slash adoptive father, because Bruce couldn’t work it out. The man grows more and more frustrated each month and it was hilarious to see.

Red Robin bugs Barbara, who was their top systems and comms person, because she too couldn’t work it out and because Red keeps on getting into her systems and despite everything she tries she can’t seem to get back into theirs.

The fact that Red Robin may be at the gala, in person, was a big matter. The annoying thing was that they just didn’t know who that was so being able to identify them would be tricky.

“Who knows,” Dick starts adjusting his sleeve, “When we get the files we may find out who Red Robin is after all, wouldn’t that be a treat?”

Jason shoots him a look, “Yeah, whoopee-doo. I just want to get this mission out of the way.”

They both fall silent and don’t talk for the rest of the drive. When they finally pull up outside of the charity gala, they’re let out of the limo and put on their best smiles for the reporters surrounding the, being Bruce Wayne's sons certainly gets them a lot of coverage no matter where they are. What the press don’t know, nor will they find out, is that Bruce Wayne is the boss of the biggest secret service in the world.

Dick and Jason make their way up to the building and get into the gala with no issues. Once inside they each grab a glass of champagne that was being passed around and stand together to get an over view of the gala.

Jason leans over closely, whispering into his ear, “So how do you want to play this? Walk around until we find something or someone fishy?”

Dick scans the crowd around them, lots of people varying in ages surround them, all dressed to the nines chatting away with one another like they were having a good time. As his brother pointed out earlier in the car, they have no idea on who was involved with these files that Bruce wants them to obtain. It was going to be a hit or miss kind of situation which sucked but what could they do?

He leans towards Jason, “That’s probably best yeah, scope around see what you can find out and get talking to people. You know what to do.” Jason looks at him and nods once in confirmation. “We’ve got our comms in if anything happens, Babs is on standby if we need her.”

They start to split up then but before his brother could get too far away Dick turns back around, “And Jason, don’t eat all the bread.”

Jason narrows his eyes at him and sticks a middle finger up in response, Dick snickers and spins around to get started on his mission.

Going around and talking to people is easy for Dick, he’s been doing for many years and by now it comes all naturally. Being Bruce Wayne’s son since he was 9 years old has given him plenty of time to practice being nice and friendly to rich snobs and then there’s the added bonus of being involved in the Secret Service since he was 11. He’s had a lot of practice in his life, this part was easy.

He wonders about the gala for an hour talking to a variety of people trying to get a feel of the situation at hand. It wasn’t easy to work out who was going to be involved in the exchange of files that night as they had next to no information on the individuals, but he’s keeping an eye and an ear out for anything.

He was sipping his champagne (which was still the glass he collected when he first came in) when he was suddenly bumped from behind. Tensing up and getting ready to spring into action he spins around and is surprised to see a familiar teenager who looks guilty. Upon recognising him Dick grins, “Timmy! How’s it going buddy?”

“Oh hey Dick, sorry I didn’t mean to bump into you.”

Dick wraps an arm around the teenager’s shoulders and pulls him into a side hug. Dick’s known Tim since he was a kid, he was their neighbour and Dick often babysat him when the kid’s parents went away (which was a lot) so he’s become like a second younger brother. They all adore him, he’s pretty sure that if Tim didn’t have parents Bruce would adopt him with no hesitation.

He looks at the teenager, seeing him dressed in a navy tux that makes him look like a baby CEO and was holding a glass of what looked like soda. “What you doing here then? Are your parents back from their latest trip?”

Tim shrugs and glances around the room before looking up at him, “No they’re not back, but they requested that I make an appearance for their name sake. They would be annoyed if they find out I didn’t show up.”

Dick frowns at that, it sounds so sad that Tim has to do things like this just to try and please his parents to get their approval. He knows Tim’s had a hard upbringing and it makes him go soft for the kid. He gives him a squeeze, “Well give it another hour then make disappear.”

He feels Tim tense against him, clearly not liking the idea of leaving early. “I guess I could.” He says tightly. Dick doesn’t comment on it, choosing to let it go because it’s clear Tim doesn’t want to talk about it. He lets his arm drop from around him, “Did you know Jason’s here too. Have you seen him?”

Tim nods, smiling slightly, “Yeah I’ve seen him. He was at the food table eating bread rolls when I went over to grab a snack.”

“Of course he was,” Dick sighs. He hears Tim laugh at that, the kid knowing exactly what the other man was like. Jason and Tim have an odd relationship, at first Jason couldn’t stand him, absolutely hating his guts but then over time he seemed to have gotten used to the kid and even became protective of him. It was oddly sweet.

The only problem with having Tim around however was that Tim didn’t know about the Secret Service. They all would love to have him on board, he was crazy smart, talented, really deductive but the underlying problem was his parents. They didn’t fully know what Tim’s relationship with his parents were like, they know only what Tim wants them to know. Of course they have their suspicions but that can only take them so far.

As Dick opens his mouth to say something else to Tim, Jason’s voice buzzes in his ear. “Bingo, I found the first of our unknown associates. Just walked in through the door and of fucking course, we really should have guessed who it was.”

Dick doesn’t respond despite how much he wanted to. It’s great that Jason’s found the first one but what did he mean by they should have known? Who was it? He clears his thoughts and look down at Tim who was glancing around the gala, he feels bad but he does have a job to do at the end of the day.

He pokes the kid’s shoulder lightly to get his attention, two blue eyes stare up at him and Dick gives him an easy smile, “I gotta go as there’s someone I need to talk to because Bruce asked me to, how about we meet up some time soon, just you, me and Jay? We could go to the skate park or something?”

Tim stiffly nods, frowning slightly as he does so, “Uh sure. Sounds great.”

Dick reaches out and squeezes his shoulder, “Great, I’ll message you soon okay.”

He leaves Tim standing there as he starts making his way through the crows towards the door where Jason had said he saw the first unknown associate. Dick gets near the entrance and looks around, after turning in full circles like four times he frowns and finally responds back to Jason, “Do you still have eyes on them? I can’t see them.”

It takes a few moments but soon enough his brother’s voice was in his ear, though sounding a bit muffled like he was eating. “Yeah I can see them, they’re at your six talking to Miss Anderson, the lady in the horrid green dress.”

Dick turns around and freezes when he sees who Jason had been on about. There he was, talking to the elderly lady with a fake smile plastered on his, was none other than Lex Luthor. Dick sighs, “You’re kidding me? What is he up too now?”

“Beats me. Though I certainly wouldn’t mind throwing a punch or two at the guy after last time.”

Pinching his nose, Dick lets out a long breath, Jason wasn’t helping matters here. While he can agree with his brother’s desire to punch the man he knows it doesn’t work like that. “Right,” he says trying to get them back on track, “Just because he’s here doesn’t mean he’s involved, while it’s very likely that he is, we can’t be certain. Keep an eye out for the potential second.”

He moves away before he gets caught staring, as he moves swiftly through the crowd occasionally chatting to rich folk, he keeps an eye on Luthor at all times.

“Where are you?” Dick asks after a long period of time, despite going around the floor three times he hadn’t bumped into Jason once. It made him wonder where his brother was and what he was up to. It didn’t help that he’s also been very quiet.

“Up above. Figured it was an easy vantage point, plus I’m not surrounded by a load of rich snobs who are stuck way too far up their own asses.”

Dick glances up, looking for him, after a couple seconds he finds Jason leaning over the railing with a glass of champagne in his hand. Jason sees him looking and offers a little wave. Dick rolls his eyes and goes back to what he was doing.

It was another 15 minutes until the second person they were looking for comes into the room at long last. Dick curses under his breath once he sees him. “Found associate number two, or at least who is a suspect.”

Who Dick was watching comes strolling into the room looking like he owns the world. In his long green and gold robes that trail behind him, his head and chin turned up at everyone as he wonders into the room with no cares of the world. It was none other than Ra’s Al Ghul.

“What a fucking coincidence.” Jason’s comment obviously means he’s seeing Ra’s too.

Dick turns away before the man could see him, moving through the crowd to get out of eye sight. “What’s the chances? Two huge names coming to a puny charity gala. Something’s up.”

“Who do you think has the file? Luthor giving it Al Ghul or the other way around?”

“I have no idea. For now just keep an eye on them, I’ll watch Ra’s while you watch Luthor, if one makes a move instantly report.”

“Gotcha.”

Dick keeps an eye out for anyone else who could be a suspect but he never lets Al Ghul out of his sight. The man walks around and talk with people like he belongs there, but Dick knows better, knows that he really doesn’t belong there. To majority of the world Al Ghul was a kind man who often gives to charity and helps those in need. To Dick and a few others he was a criminal master mind, the head of an entire empire full of assassins ready to kill.

The fact he and Luthor were here at the same time was no coincidence. Both were bad men, both were always up to no good, both only doing things for their own benefits and no one else’s.

About half an hour later, Dick spies on Ra’s as he excuses himself from a conversation with a small group of elite Gothamites. The man heads out of the room heading in the direction where the toilets were. A good cover really but Dick knows better. After radioing Jason a quick message, he follows the man several feet behind, making sure to keep him insight.

As expected Ra’s goes straight past the toilets and down the corridor before turning around the corner. Dick continues to pursue him, following the man as he travels up some steps to the next level and as he travels down another corridor. Not once does he stop moving and not once does he look over his shoulder. Dick probably could guess that Ra’s knew he was being followed and was allowing it to happen, which meant nothing good for Dick but he continues forward because he needs to.

As he follows behind him, he gets a message from Jason saying how Luthor was now on the move. After that it becomes much clearer that it was these two they were after.

Ra’s keeps going until he gets to the end of the corridor and stops in front of a door. With precise movements he opens it up and steps inside the room. Dick waits a few moments before creeping forward, he plasters himself against the wall and peers into the room to find Ra’s standing there in the middle of it with his back against the door.

The room was an old fashioned study. A wooden desk with elegant patterns engraved in it was one side of the room which was placed in front of a wooden door, large open windows were opposite it, two single velvet love seats sit in the other corner of the room.

Dick sneaks inside the room as quickly and as quietly as he can and slips behind the desk and the chair parked at it. He stays in a crouch and listens intently as he watches Ra’s stand there in the middle of the room.

“I know you’re here agent. You may as well come out. It can’t do you any good being crouched like that for a long time.”

Dick curses and debates what to do. When he glances up he sees Ra’s looking in his direction despite the chair and desk hiding him. Knowing that he’s lost he stands up, squaring his shoulders and gets ready for anything. A man like Ra’s doesn’t travel alone.

“Ra’s.” Dick says coldly. This isn’t his first interaction with the man, he’s far from wanting to be polite with manners.

“I give you credit agent, for following me as you did, for waiting as long as you did but unfortunately it wasn’t enough.” He mocks Dick with an almost sneer.

“If anyone was to know what patience is all about, it would be me.” Dick comments. “Why are you here Ra’s? What’s your goal?”

The man doesn’t seem surprised at the change in subject. He stares at Dick with a cold calculating look. “You should leave the interrogation to your father Grayson. He’s much better at it than you.”

Dick scowls at the jab but doesn’t comment.

“You say you have patience, why don’t you wait and find out what I’m here for. You’ll be lovely company.”

As the words leave his mouth the door behind the desk bursts open. The action startles him and he gets into a defensive position as four assassins pour into the door. The first one launches himself at Dick and he finds himself dodging and throwing punches. The second joins in and Dick fights him off as well.

It becomes a battle of four against one and he holds his ground well. He gets the first one on the floor who doesn’t get back up. The second one gets knocks down but slowly rises back up. Unfortunately that’s where his luck ends. A well-aimed punch to the stomach winds him and he instinctively hunches over, allowing an opening for a kick to the head which knocks him down to the floor. Before he could get his bearings they were on his back and tying his hands together, he’s thoroughly tied and pinned down by the time he gets his head together.

He grunts and squirms trying to get free but his efforts are futile and he quickly gives up. He cranes his neck up and glares at Ra’s, who was watching him with a sinister smile, having clearly enjoyed their scuffle. The bastard.

Nothing was said between them and it stays silent for several minutes until commotion outside the room could be heard. Dick twists around in his binds to glance at the door. His eyes widen as he sees Jason being pushed through. His brother stumbles in before he’s forced down to his knees next to Dick by another assassin.

They share a look surprise and anger when they make eye contact. Not only had Dick been caught but Jason too. Great. This mission is going so well. When they get out of this Bruce is going to give them such a lashing for this mess, it’s not going to be pretty.

After Jason’s down on his knees another figure walks in. Crisp in an expensive, tailored suit was Lex Luthor. He casts them a disgusted look before turning his attention on Ra’s.

“Nothing was ever mentioned about the extra company Al Ghul.” He scowls. “I don’t appreciate being watched and then stalked.”

“Them being here was not my doing. I had no control over it, however as you can see, I planned ahead and figured something like this would happen. It’s been sorted.”

“You call this sorted?” Luthor walks around them, looking down scornfully, “Dick Grayson and Jason Todd, the Wayne brats. I do have to admit, what an unwelcomed surprise.”

“As if this is what I want to be doing on my Friday evening.” Jason snorts glaring at the men above them. “You’re not that special Luthor.”

Luthor stops in his tracks and looks at Jason pointedly, “And yet here we are.” He turns back to ra’s. “Enough games, I want what we discussed and then I can be gone. There’s only so much pretending I can do a night.”

As Ra’s gestures to one of his assassins still in the room, Dick squirms around on the floor until he’s sat up next to Jason. The two of them share a look, trying to work out how to get out of this mess. They can’t let Luthor leave with those files, who knows what kind of damage the man could do with them.

Jason sends him a look which Dick can interpret, it’s his brother’s look of, ‘I have a plan’. While Dick adores his brother, and he really does, Jason’s plans aren’t always the best so seeing that look does nothing to help ease his mind of their current situation.

Above them, Ra’s passes over an A4 envelope to Luthor who instantly snatches it from the man’s hand and holds it tightly. They watch as he opens it up, scans the contents on the inside before nodding approvingly. “Good. That means our business here is done.”

“A pleasure as always Luthor.”

“Hardly. Now I must be going.”

Luthor turns and starts heading towards the door but not before scowling down at the agents on the floor, “What ever you do, make sure you dispose of these thoroughly, wouldn’t want them meddling once again.” Then like that he walks out of the room.

As the man disappears from view, Dick shoots Jason an alarmed look but his brother wasn’t paying him any attention. His gaze was on the man still in front of them.

“So many ways I want to get rid of you. Both talented in your own ways but stubborn and too drastic for my liking. A shame really, I could do with people of your abilities.”

“How about I narrow down your options?” Jason comments glaring at him.

Dick raises an eyebrow in question just as Ra’s eyes him up. “Oh, what’s that then?”

A snapping sound could be heard and then Jason was suddenly springing up and launches himself against Ra’s, “This.”

Dick didn’t get the chance to be surprised by Jason’s actions or as he takes on the assassins in the room by himself because he notices a knife lying where Jason had been. Using the opportunity while everyone else was busy with Jason, Dick awkwardly shuffles along to grab the knife to cut himself free as quickly as he can.

To Jason’s credit he holds them off for a long time. Once free Dick joins in on the action, making the playing field more even. While they were both excellent fighters individually, together they become almost unstoppable. Jason’s surprise attack of course giving them the advantage they needed at the beginning.

They take out all of the ninjas and once it was just them and Ra’s left standing.

“Go find and track down Luthor.” Jason tells him getting into a defensive position against Ra’s. “I can handle him.”

When Dick doesn’t move, his brother shoots him a sharp look, “Go. I can handle it. We can’t let Luthor get away with those files.”

Dick looks between them before nodding. He was reluctant to leave Jason alone but he knew that he was right. Those files were important somehow and he couldn’t let them get away.

He runs out of the room and head back the way he came. Dick has no idea how far Luthor would have gotten by now but hopefully it wasn’t too far or else he’s going to need a way to track him. A back up would be to contact Babs, who was tech savvy and could track the man for him if it came down to it.

Dick runs down the corridor and turns the corner before continuing to run. It was as he was getting to the end that he hears familiar voices talking from around the bend. He slows down to a stop and takes a moment to listen in.

“Move out the way boy.”

“No can do Mister Luthor.”

“I am not someone you want to get on your bad side.”

“That's questionable, but I wasn’t planning on it. The only thing I want is those files.”

“I have no idea what you’re on about. You may have mistaken me for someone else.”

“I’m pretty sure I haven’t.”

“Move out of my way.”

“Afraid I can’t do that. I can’t let you go, not until I have those files.”

There’s a moment of silence between them and Dick works on not letting out any sounds at his surprise. One of the voices is Luthor’s, that’s just clear and obvious at this point. Thankfully he hadn’t gotten very far.

However that second voice Dick knew without looking. It was Tim. That was Tim’s voice and he was standing up against Luthor asking for the very files he needs to get. But how did Timmy know about the files? Why would he want the files in the first place?

“Mister Luthor, I’m giving you two options here, either you give me those files by choice and we can part ways like nothing ever happened. Or, I forcefully remove them from you and without your body guard here to help protect you, well odds aren’t exactly in your favour.”

There’s another pause and Dick finally peers around the corner to find Luthor and Tim at odds with one another. Luthor’s back was to him and he could just make out Tim’s frame beyond the man. The scene was almost comical, Tim’s tiny size compared to Luthor’s tall frame was such a contradiction, it would make anyone wonder what damage Tim could do to someone.

Dick was so confused to why Tim was standing against Luthor in the first place. What was that kid even thinking? He could get hurt!

“Oh?” Luthor’s tone was mocking, “And what is a kid like you going to do to a full grown man like me?”

“I know I may not look like much but trust me I can cause havoc when I need too. It also doesn’t help that you don’t recognise me when I’m not in front of the computer screen.”

A few beats go by as Tim’s words hang in the air. Dick could pick up the double meaning in his words but he couldn’t work out exactly what the teenager was on about. Apparently Luthor had a bit of trouble working it out also but he still got it before Dick did, “Red Robin. You’re the Red Robin.”

“The one and only.”

And wasn’t that a punch to the gut. Dick felt almost breathless. Timmy, Tiny Tim, his little brother, their next door neighbour, was the one thing that none of them could work out. Timmy was the one causing mayhem in their lives. How? How was that possible. Why?

Dick shook his head trying to get back on the scene at hand, trying to get over the fact that Tim was Red Robin and how he didn’t know about it.

“Enough games.” Luthor growls. He reaches behind him and Dick watches wide eyed as he brings out a gun and points it at Tim. “I don’t know what kind of kid you are, but I have no qualms about killing kids, especially those who are too nosey for their own good.”

He may not have a problem with it but Dick certainly does. That action alone was enough to get him to finally engage with the fight. He creeps out from around the corner and sneaks up on Luthor. Before the man could even blink Dick disarms him, without the gun going off, and subdues him so he’s on the ground in hand cuffs.

With a jab to the neck Dick knocks him unconscious before patting him down searching for the files. He finds the envelope tucked away in a secret jacket pocket. He grins happily, finally having them in his hand.

Now that was done, there was something else he needed to address. He turns around expectantly and blinks in surprise when he finds the area empty. He frowns as he looks around, looking for the kid that was there moments ago. He lets out an annoyed sigh, giving into the fact that Tim had pulled a disappearing act on him, which, fair enough but at the same time was rude.

There were so many questions Dick had for him. He wants to know how Tim became Red Robin, why he became that persona, does he know who they all are, what were the reasons behind his actions, why hasn’t he said anything before.

So many questions and so many explanations.

Dick doesn’t get the chance to think about it any further because he could hear footsteps coming from behind him. He tenses up, getting ready for a fight before he realises who it is as they turn the corner. It’s only Jason.

He holds the file up with a triumphant smile, “Got the files. Ra’s dealt with?”

His brother has a black eye forming, a nasty gash on his forehead and parts of his suit were ripped, but apart from that he looked relatively okay.

“He got away, called a retreat and I was over powered. But that’s not particularly important. You got the file that’s what matters. B will be happy at least.”

Dick hums and looks down at Luthor’s unconscious form. “I’ll let the police handle this, for now lets get heading back, B will want these files.”

After making an anonymous call to the PD, the two of them start heading towards the back exit of the gala. The last thing they need is someone questioning Jason’s new appearance.

“Did you ever see Red Robin, he was supposed to show right? I didn’t notice anyone who could be him at all.”

Dick goes stiff at the mention of the persona. He hadn’t wanted to talk about that just yet, not until he got the answers he needed. To his annoyance, his stiffness doesn’t go unnoticed by Jason. His brother reaches out and grabs his arm to stop him from walking. “Dick. You saw him, didn’t you? You know who it is?”

Dick swallows and looks away. Should he give Tim up? What if he was wrong about this and it was all a big understanding?

Jason’s grip on his arm tightens. “Don’t you dare lie to me. You don’t have to tell B but you need to at least tell me.”

Dick takes a deep breath and lets it out, he looks at Jason. “It’s Tim. Tim is Red Robin.”

Several moments go by and all Jason was doing was blinking at him. He then lets out an obnoxious laugh like Dick had just told the world’s best joke. “Yeah okay Dickie bird, good one. Tim, Tiny Tim, the little baby bird, as Red Robin. That’s gold.”

Dick wasn’t laughing. He glares at his brother until he sobers up. “I’m not joking. I saw and heard him talking to Luthor, he revealed himself and claimed to wanting these files. Luthor then drew a gun on him and of course I wasn’t about to let that happen so I got involved but by the time I went to talk to him he was gone.”

His brother blinks at him again, “You’re not joking. You seriously think Tim is Red Robin, the exact thing causing both B and Babs ulcers because they can’t work out who it is.”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.” Dicks says softening his expression. “I honestly don’t believe it myself but I want to get answers before taking this any more forward. I said to him that we’ll meet up soon, I plan on interrogating him then about it.”

“So we’re keeping this just between us.”

“For now yes.”

“Bruce will be pissed at us for keeping that information from him.”

“I don’t care. I want to get the facts correct before proceeding this further. Anyway, these mysterious files should keep him busy long enough for us to work it out before he catches on.”

“Alright, if this all goes down hill and then I’m blaming you.”

“Sure.”

“I mean it Dickhead, I ain’t taking the blame for your crappy decisions.”

“Whatever Jason.”

“So now what?”

Dick grins at him, “Now we have a little birdie to catch.”